





“ m 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https://archive.org/details/epistleofpaultorO0erdm_0 


BY CHARLES R. ERDMAN 


The Gospel of John: An Exposition 
The Gospel of Matthew 

The Gospel of Mark 

The General Epistles 

The Acts 

The Gospel of Luke 

The Pastoral Episiles of Paul 
Coming to the Communion 

The Ruling Elder 

The Return of Christ 

Within the Gateways of the Far East 
The Work of the Pastor 

The Lord We Love 





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Epistle to the Romans 


AN EXPOSITION 


BY 


CHARLES R.” ERDMAN 
Professor of Practical Theology, Princeton Theological 
Seminary 
Pastor of First Presbyterian Church 


Princeton, New Jersey 


PHILADELPHIA 
THE WESTMINSTER PRESS 
1925 


CO 


ry f) 
Ot 


Copyright, 1925 
by 
F. M. BRASELMAN 


Printed in the United States of America 


The Bible text printed in boldface is taken from the American Standard Edition of the 
Revised Bible, copyright, 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons, and is used by permission. 


2) 
MY BROTHER 
WALTER C. ERDMAN 
AN HONORED AND BELOVED 
HERADD OF THE GOSPEL 
INVITE PARTEAST 





FOREWORD 


The purpose of this brief exposition is to make a little 
more plain to modern readers the meaning and permanent 
values of a letter written by Saint Paul to certain residents 
of ancient Rome. Probably this epistle should be regarded 
as the supreme masterpiece of the great apostle. It is a 
marvel of intellectual acumen, of logical power, and of 
spiritual insight. However, it was first intended, not. for 
the philosophers of the imperial city, nor for the savants 
of the schools, nor for the circle of Cesar’s household, but 
for the members of an infant Christian church, composed 
largely of slaves and freedmen, recently delivered from a 
degrading heathenism and from the bondage of pagan 
superstitions. Therefore, in spite of its depth and its diff- 
culties, it has been bringing light and strength to persons 
of widely differing degrees of intelligence through all the 
succeeding centuries. To none has its guidance been more 
grateful than to those troubled by the problems and per- 
plexities of modern thought; for the gospel of Christ, which 
it sets forth, is still the sweetest music ever heard upon 
earth, the most powerful message proclaimed among men, 


the most precious treasure intrusted to the people of God. 





INTRODUCTION 


There is a thrilling significance in the simple statement 
of the date and authorship of this epistle. It was written 
in days when there were still living countless men and 
women who had walked and talked with Christ, and it 
was written by one who had become a close friend of the 
most intimate disciples of Christ. Its statements, there- 
fore, reveal to us beyond question what Christianity was 
in its original form, and when it refers to the resurrection 
of Christ, to his redeeming work, to his deity, and to 
other familiar doctrines of the Christian faith, it assures 
us that our religion is not composed of myths or of uncer- 
tain traditions, but rests on a firm basis of historic facts. 

Paul was at Corinth. It was Jate in the winter of A. D. 
57-58. For three years he had been laboring at Ephesus. 

t was that period of his life popularly known as his Third 
Missionary Journey. On the first of these journeys, he 
had visited Cyprus and Southern Asia Minor. On the 
second, he had crossed to Europe and founded churches at 
Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth, and from this last 
city had written his two letters to the Thessalonians. 

On this third journey, his long stay at Ephesus had been 
attended with great success. The gospel had been given to 
the entire Province of Asia. He had written his important 
letter to the Galatians and his First Epistle to the Corinthi- 
ans and had formed a determination to preach the gospel 
at Rome. Before visiting the imperial city, however, he 
had found it necessary first to return to Jerusalem and 
bring to the “‘ poor among the saints”’ there an offering from 
the churches of Macedonia and Greece. To secure this 
offering and further to establish these churches, he had lef 
_Ephe ing westward through Macedonia. There 

he had written his second letter to the Corinthians, to 
prepare that church for his approaching visit. Then, when 
he had reached Corinth and when his work in that city 
was about complete, as he was starting eastward on his 
long and perilous journey to Jerusalem, having in mind 

7 


= 


8 INTRODUCTION 


his determination to return westward and to visit Rome, 
he wrote this letter, to send messages to the Christian be- 
lievers in the great capital, to assure them of his intended 
visit after he had accomplished his mission to Jerusalem, 
and to give them an orderly and comprehensive state- 
ment of the gospel of Christ. 

It was natural that Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, 
should wtsh to send a clear summary of the Christian faith 
to the church situated in the metropolis of the Gentile 
world. Further, he was planning to make Rome the point 
of departure for his work of evangelizing the western half 
of the empire. He hoped that it would become the radiat- 
ing center and permanent home of a universal < activity 


Which would bring to all Il nations the knowledge of Christ. 


Rome, too, was the emporiummmto which all peoples h had. 





‘poured their idolatries and corruptions, their lawlessness 
and their sii; it was a mirror of the heathen world,-with — 
{ts wretctedness and misery and its dread foreboding of 
the wrath to come. He wished, therefore, that in this city 
the good news of salvation should be proclaimed in all its 
fullness and its power; and he wrote this letter to encourage 
and to instruct the company.of Christians upon whom in 
such large measure was to depend the evangelization of the 
world. 






The origin of the church at Rome is lost in obscurity. 
Probably neither of the two most popular conjectures is 
correct. According to the former, it was founded by the 
“‘sojourners from Rome’’ who had heard the gospel mes- 
sage in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. According to 
the latter, it was established by the preaching of the 
Apostle Peter. Now, whether or not Peter ever visited the 
imperial city, it is certain that this church was not of his 
planting; for Paul not only made no mention of him in 
this letter but, on the other hand, he distinctly stated that 
in coming to Rome he would “not build upon another 
man’s foundation.” 

Nor is it probable that the Jews who had heard Peter 
preach in Jerusalem had returned to establish this church 
in Rome; for this was a Gentile church, and not until many 


INTRODUCTION 9 


years after Pentecost had believers learned that Gentiles 
as such could be admitted to the Christian Church on equal 
terms with Jews. Probably the church had been founded 
by teachers or travelers from some of the Gentile centers 
by whom the universal character of the gospel was fully 
understood. 

The church in Rome, however, evidently contained a 
large Jewish element, and it was in contact with a great 
Jewish community in the capital city. Some modern 
writers intimate that the church, in fact, was composed 
largely of Gentile Christians who had previously become 











e ‘stle.. ‘Ag is references to ce Jew. s, the letter 
cannot be NEHER, Some churches, like those in 
Galatia, were in danger of undue Jewish influence; the 
church in the Gentile capital, however, was inclined to 
ignore the Jews, to forget the religious benefits they had 
brought to the race, to be blind to their history and in- 
different to their future destiny. On the other hand, the 
Jews were tempted to boast their superior privileges and 
i Teles a false confidence on their relation to the Mosaic 

w.| Therefore, Paul writes this letter, not_merely to set 
ony the content of the gospel, but to do so with his own 
oun rymen in mind, with the purpose of showing the re- 

lation of Jew and Gentile in the economy of God and of 

teaching that both were in need of the salvation which the 
gospel proclaimed and that both should be united har- 
moniously in one body, freed from all their former national 
prejudices, and living as a pattern and an example to be- 
lievers of all nations. 









The general line of argument is as follows: After a salu- 
tation in which Paul makes significant reference to the 
gospel, Rom. 1:1-7, and an expression of his interest in the 
Christians at Rome, vs. 8-15, he states definitely the theme 
of the epistle: “‘I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is 
the power of God unto salvation to every one that be- 
lieveth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein 
is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: 


10 INTRODUCTION 


as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith,” 
VsqlOouw i 

He then shows that the whole world is in need of right- 
eousness, whether lawless Gentiles, vs. 18-32, or privileged 
Jews, chs. 2:1 to 3:8; all, without exception, as the Jewish 
Scriptures declare, are guilty before God, ch. 3: 9-20. 

Paul then sets forth the nature of, the 










rist, for all who put their faith i in him 

ee shows that this way of salvation is” 
Old Testament Scriptures, ch. 4, that it results in peace 
and joy and hope, ch. 5:1-11, and that its benefits are 
universal to all who believe, vs. 12-21. 

The apostle then shows how faith results in a life of holi- 
ness. He does so by answering three supposed objections 
to the doctrine of salvation by faith in Christ alone. The 
first of these objections is that one thus saved will be en- 

couraged to sin. To this Paul replies that, on the contrary, 
\ cin involves such a union with the crucified and risen 


NN pe, 


Christ as results in death to sin and in resurrection to a 


ew moral life, e 6:1-14. 
The second objection 1s that this way of salvation makes 


one free to sin. The reply is that faith rather breaks the 
bondage of sin and results in the acceptance of a new ob-_ 
ligation to holiness and in the enjoyment of a sanctifying 
oneness with Christ, chs. 6:15 to 7:6. 

In the third place, itis 717 at such a doctrine 
of salvation ‘apart from the law”’ makes the law a useless, 
even an evil, thing. To this Paul answers that the function 
is not to relieve from sin, but to reveal sin, an 
that the reason it cannot save is not that itis evitbutth hat 
man is sinful and weak, ch. 7:7-25. 

After answering these objections, Paul shows that faith 
in Christ and the consequent indwelling and operation of 
the Holy Spirit result in a life of holiness, ch. 8:1-11, as 
sons of God, vs. 12-17, and will issue in ultimate glory for 
believers who are meanwhile sustained by the Spirit and 
assured of the love of God, vs. 18-39. 

The apostle reaches the climax of his discussion by con- 
sidering the problem of how to reconcile the predictions of 


INTRODUCTION 11 


blessing upon the Jews, contained in their prophetic 
Scriptures, with their present rejection and condemnation. 
Paul answers first) that the promises were only to the 
true Israel, to the“‘election,” who really exercised faith, 
ch. 9:1-29; es the present rejection of Israel 
was not arbitrary;-but was due to their refusal to accept 
the Very way of salvation by faith taught in their own 
Scriptures, chs. 9:30 to 10:21; and, desily) that the re- 
jection of Israel is not final; even now somé Jews are being 
saved, and in the future all will be saved, and with the 
Gentiles will trust in the Redeemer, Christ, ch. 11:1-30. 

The remainder of the epistle is composed of exhortations 
to Christian living, based upon the great truths of saving 
grace previously set forth. These relate first to Christian 
duties in general. As members of the Church, believers are 
to be unselfish, ch. 12; as citizens of the State, they are 
to show loyalty and submission, ch. 13:1-7; as members 
of society, they are to live in love and purity, ch. 13:8-14. 
More particularly, instruction is given as to conduct in 
relation to questions of conscientious scruples. Remember- 
ing the Lordship of Christ, believers are not to judge or 
to tempt one another but to exercise mutual forbearance, 
following the example of the Master, chs. 14:1 to 15:13. 
The letter closes with paragraphs of personal explanations 
and greetings, chs. 15:14 to 16:27. 

The content of the letter may be set forth a little more 
in detail by the following outline. 





THE OUTLINE 


I PAGE 
Biber nirOcluctions se NOMlel slim a. Mom oe te le 17 
Ae Lne Salutavion. a OH ls bala ae Sacetteae Ws 
B. The Interest of Paul in the Roman Christians. 
CEES BELO ee ae eR: WM mete Ne tig tea 22 
C. The Theme of the Epistle. Ch. 1:16, 17...... 26 
I] 
Doctrinal instractions, -Chs.' 1<'18 to:11236---, ... .. 30 
Ae lustiication by, Paith.> Ché-1* 18-10, 53219..23 30 
1. The Universal Need of Righteousness. Chs. 
AI BAtO RS LU Cet et Wis ee oe oon ena 30 
a. The Guilt of the Gentile World. Ch. 1 
i BRS Yes eee SRO AD Fd © aie REN Rees UM 30 
b. The Principles of Divine Judgment. Ch. 
Det LAL ae TMT OP RSA SOA Dees 36 


c. The Guilt of the Jew. Chs. 2:17 to 3:8... 41 
d. The Whole World Condemned. Ch. 3:9-20. 47 


2. The Divine Method and Provision. Ch. 3 
PANES a dare rou ay Raed Ak te Ee Raa a 50 
Sethe Prooftromescripture,.. Cheetos. esis. 54 
qe une. blessed Rest tye Rigdset ald ey. tee 60 
5. The Universal Application. Ch. 5:12-21.... 64 
B. The Life of the Believers. Chs.6 to 8........ 69 
1. Dead to Sin and Alive Unto God. Ch. 6: 1-14. 69 
2. Free from Sin and Servants of Righteousness. 
it ned Ope * Es EPs hod bo ey nats a Re De hy Fan epee, 72 
Je ch from Law and United with Christ. Ch. : 
1 ale nS eh cook AR pred Sa eet fo Dae Nee 5 
4 The Inward Struggle. Ch: 727-25... Jf.¢ 77 
SEMA eODiTits Ol oSall ahaha sols Kaden ass 82 
a. The Possibility of Holiness. Ch. 8: 1-11... 82 
Dasvne-Dutyotloliness Chis. 1231 fe 86 
13 


14 THE OUDLINE 


6. Patience in Suffering. Ch. 8: 18-30... 
ay ThetHope of Glory: > Cle 81522 52.enee ee 


b. The Divine Help and Purpose. Ch. 8: 26-30. 


7. The Assurance of Salvation. Ch. 8: 31-39.. 
C. The Problem of Israel’s Rejection. Chs. 9 to 11. 


1. The Rejection of Israel Is Not Complete. Ch. 


ol econ She. wale. Teo tel vel SF: lecieina, fo, ef euioue Sule —o Mel je .0r 6 Lense lne 


a. Paul's Sorrow for israck. .Chy.0 31-5 eee 


b. Israel’s Rejection and God’s Promise. Ch. 


OD: O-13 Caibee eb Ree Ree Ace. ny eee 


c. Israel’s Rejection and God’s Justice. Ch. 9: 


1429 Ri Be ce ee oe aaah A tock ae 


2. The Rejection of Israel Is Not Arbitrary. Chs. 


0 30° T0410 22 Deena oe ae een ere ee 
a. Israel’s Failure to Accept Christ. Ch. 9: 


BORG SAL Yas ae Sane 2 en ee ee 
b. Israel’s Refusal of God’s: Righteousness 
Che tO 3 E1542 NS a ae eee ee 


c. Israel’s Neglect of the Gospel Message. 


GHP TOSAL O22 [esa aaa cote ey en ee 


3. The Rejection of Israel Is Not Final. Ch. 11. 
a. The Present Election of Grace. Ch. 11: 1-10. 
b. The: Puture Salvation: olj-lsraelo” Cho 714° 


LOZ Renee Pen ree ee ae oe eee 


a Put 
PracticalsExhortationss)Gne-s12 81 to). 165.5 eee 


A.-As-Members ofthe Ghurcht Ch. 12°22 ee 


1. The Appeal to Consecration. Ch. 12:1, 2.. 
2.~ Lhet Exercise:ofeGiltsen C hial2215-S esse ee eee 
3. The Manifestation of Loves’ Gh, 12-9-21" - 
Buc As Citizensrotsthe ota tevmeCiiel oe ee ee 
1.6 Civil Putieshth el 5 sis se oe eee 


THE OUTLINE 15 


PAGE 

2. The Animating Principle of Love. Ch. 13: 
oe IRs T ehcts ROM Ld tenn) cA IVEY Dee ce 140 
3. The Purifying Motive of Hope. Ch. 13:.11-14. 140 


C. Questions of Conscience. Chs. 14:1 to 15:13.. 142 


te DorNot Judge Others. Ghe431-12 05.. 2....142 
ZeorNon lempt.Others.2¢ Ch.14 13-232. 3 144 
3. Follow the Example of Christ. Ch. 15:1-13.. 146 


IV 
MoE eOnchuisionen nse lol 4O.1 022 7 ok ees ee 149 
A. Paul’s Reasons for Writing. Ch. 15:14-21.... 149 
Pyeeaulssersonalrians.. 6G b152.22233.40),. ee, 151 
Ge lhe Commendation: of) Phoebe. Ch. 16#15:2.2. 1538 
D. Paul’s Greetings to the Romans. Ch. 16: 3- 16. 154 
E. A Warning Against False Teachers. Ch. 16: 
(VAT as herrea Piao Tyr ke OMe et he tar nt oe ede 156 
F. Greetings from Paul’s Companions. Ch. 16: 
ARERR RI | Nee Ey eal 7 neg Nene anol 158 
G 





Rom. 1: 1-7 THE SALUTATION Li 


I. THe INTRODUCTION. Rom. 1:1-17 


A. THE SALUTATION. Ch. 1: 1-7 


1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, cailed fo be an apostle, 
separated unto the gospel of God, 2 which he promised 
afore through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 con- 
cerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according 
to the flesh, 4 who was declared fo be the Son of God with 
power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resur- 
rection from the dead; even Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through 
whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience 
of faith among all the nations, for his name’s sake; 6 among 
whom are ye also, called to be Jesus Christ’s: 7 to all that 
are in Rome, beloved of God, called fo be saints: Grace 
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 


It required real genius so to phrase an opening saluta- 
tion as to embody the substance of the epistle which fol- 
lowed. Such salutations were commonly mere conven- 
tional forms, like those with which modern letters are be- 
gun and ended; they designated the writer and the reader 
and included some word of greeting; Paul, however, used 
the opportunity to declare his authority as an apostle, to 
describe the Christians in Rome, and to define the gospel 
of which he was about to write. 

As to himself, he said that he was ‘“‘a servant of Jesus 
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel 
of God.’’ These terms express startling claims, yet they 
imply privileges which belong to all who preach the good 
news, and even to all who are followers of Christ. 

“A servant of Jesus Christ”’ is parallel to the Old Testa- 
ment phrase, “‘a servant of Jehovah,’ and may intimate 
that Paul ventured to put himself in the place of the 
prophets and leaders of the Old Dispensation, while in a 
connection hitherto reserved for that of ‘‘Jehovah”’ he 
substituted the name of his Master, ‘‘ Jesus Christ.” 

At least it is certain that Paul indicated here his com- 
plete submission to his Lord. The word ‘‘servant’’ means a 


18 THE INTRODUCTION Rom. 1: 1-7 


‘“‘slave,’’ a ‘“‘bond servant.’’ By its use Paul intimated 
that he had been purchased by his Master, and that he 
was surrendered wholly to his will. Such should be the 
relation to Christ realized by every one of his followers. 
It should be the complete submission and loving service 
of one who has been “bought with a price’’ and who 
“will not go out free.” 

The sphere of Paul’s willing service was that of the 
apostleship. He did not number himself among the origi- 
nal Twelve, but he placed himself upon an equality with 
them and claimed all their high powers and privileges. 
Particularly, he insisted upon his apostolic authority. He 
declared that he was ‘“‘called to be an apostle” or, more 
exactly, he was an apostle in consequence of a call. He 
may have had in mind_the eternal purpose of God, or, 
quite as probably, the summons received from his risen 
Lord on the way to Damascus, or his subsequent com- 
mission to world-wide service. Surely Paul was ever sus- 
tained by the consciousness of a divine call; and in some 
real sense all who submit to the will of Christ may believe 
that he has a purpose in their experiences and in their 
tasks, and thus they may be patient to suffer and strong 
to serve. 

As an “‘apostle”’ or messenger of Christ, Paul believed 
he had been. intrusted with a special message, namely, 

“‘the gospel.’”’ He said that he had been ‘ “separated unto”’ 
this Zospel, its proclamation was his sole task; ‘‘this one 
thing’’ and this alone he felt himself set aside to do, and 
his matchless success as a messenger of Christ has been, 
through all the Christian centuries, an inspiring example 
of concentration in effort and singleness of aim. 

The word ‘gospel’? means ‘‘good news”’ or ‘‘glad tid- 
ings’’; and Paul has described it as “the gospel of God.”’ 
That is, it has its source or origin in God; it is not an in- 
vention of man; it is a revelation, heavenly, glorious, 
divine. 

This gospel God had ‘‘ promised afore through his proph- 
ets in the holy scriptures’’; they were “‘his prophets”’ and 
therefore guided, directed, inspired by him. Their writings 
were ‘“‘holy’’ because of the‘r origin, their character, and 


’) 


Rom. 1: 1-7 Likes aAlLUa ATION 19 


their content. In these ‘‘scriptures,’’ now known as the 


Old Testament, the gospel was contained in type and 
symbol and prophecy; they foretold the great redemptive 
facts which were to form the substance of the gospel 
message. 

Thus Paul not only introduced the theme of his epistle, 
but he outlined its main thought, namely that the good 
news of salvation by faith is no innovation, and that 
Christianity is not a contradiction of Judaism but its com- 
pletion, its fulfillment, its climax. The predicted Messiah 
of the Old Testament is the Christ of the New; the Servant 
of Jehovah whom the prophets predicted is the Son of 
God whom the apostles preached. 

Thus Paul declared that “‘ the gospel of God”’ was ‘‘con- 
cerning his Son,” who is described as “born of the seed of 
David according to the flesh’’; that. is, in relation to the 
human race, in his physical being, in his earthly mani- 
festation, he was of *princely and royal lineage, even a 
son of Israel’s greatest king, from whom the Messiah was 
promised to come; but, in his essential life, in his spirit of 
perfect and divine holiness, he ‘‘was declared to be the 
Son of God”’ by an act of supernatural power, namely, 
“by the resurrection from the dead,” a resurrection which 
is so described as possibly to indicate that it is the pledge 
and assurance of the resurrection of those who put their 
trust in him, for the phrase might be translated, ‘By the 
resurrection of the dead.” In any case, Paul declared that 
the essence and sum and substance of the gospel is found in 
“Jesus Christ our Lord,” in Jesus, the Messiah of the Jew, 
the Lord of the Christians. 

Thus in a very real sense it is true that ‘‘ Christianity is 
Christ.’’ Unlike the Mohammedan or the Buddhist or the 
adherent of any other faith, the Christian centers his re- 
ligion in the person and work and present power of his 
divine and loving Lord. It was from this risen Lord, Paul 
declared, that he himself had received saving grace, and 
the further favor of being appointed as a chosen apostle 
and messenger with a view to securing among all nations, 
among Gentiles as well as among Jews, that obedience and 
devotion to Christ which are of the very essence of faith. 


20 THE INTRODUCTION Rom. 1: 1-7 


As the ultimate purpose of the gospel and of Paul’s apostle- 
ship was to make more fully known the grace and glory 
and power of Christ, it was all ‘for his name’s sake.” 


The readers to whom this epistle, with its exposition of 
the gospel, is being written, are described as residents of 
Rome and as belonging to the Gentile nations rather than 
to the Jews. This, however, does not mean that there were 
no Jews among them; in fact, Jewish converts must have 
formed a large element in the church; and throughout the 
whole epistle the Jew is constantly in mind. 

However, whether Jews or Gentiles, all are compre- 
hended in three luminous phrases. First, they are “called 
to be Jesus Christ’s,’’ that is, they belong to him and are 
his in response to a call. This call was quite as real and as 
sacred as that by which Paul was summoned to his apos- 
tolic service. Second, they are “‘ beloved of God”’ as those 
who have been shown his saving Mercy and have been 
brought into living fellowship with him through Jesus 
Christ. Third, they are ‘‘called to be saints’’; that is, they 
are saints as a result of the divine call which made them 
followers and servants of Christ. The word “‘saints”’ de- 
notes those who are separated from sin and separated unto 
God. They belong to God, like Israel of old, as his own 
peculiar people. They should feel obligated, therefore, to 
lives in keeping with such a high calling; they “‘should be 
holy”’ as he who has called them is holy. Thus, ‘‘saints”’ 
is a term which expresses an ideal. In the New Testament, 
individual Christians are not called “‘saints.”’ It is a word 
employed to denote communities of believers or the whole 
body of Christians, redeemed, sanctified, and expected to 
grow into the likeness of their Lord and Master. 

To such believers Paul sent his usual salutation: ‘Grace 
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord 
Jesus Christ.’’ Grace is the source and peace the essence 
of that blessedness which believers enjoy. ‘‘Grace’’ was 
the common salutation among the Greeks, and “ Peace” 
among the Jews; Paul combined them and deepened their 
meaning as he adopted them as his usual form of Christian 
greeting. ‘‘Grace’’ denotes the unmerited favor of God, 


Rom. 1: 1-7 THE SALUTATION 21 


and ‘Peace,’ both harmony with God and the peace of 
soul which ensues. This blessedness is bestowed by God 
himself whom, as Christians, we have learned to call ‘‘our 
Father,”’ and from Jesus Christ whom, as the connection 
of words denotes, we have come to regard as one with the 
Father, our divine Saviour and Lord. 


22 THE INTRODUCTION Rom. 1; 8-15 


B. THE INTEREST OF PAUL IN THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS. 
Ch. 1 : 8-15 


8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you ail, 
that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 
0 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gos- 
pel of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you, always 
in my prayers 10 making request, if by any means now at 
length I may be prospered by the will of God to come unto you. 
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some 
spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12 that is, 
that I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the 
other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 And I would not have 
you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come 
unto you (and was hindered hitherto), that I might have 
some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles. 
14 I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to 
the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, as much as in me is, I 
am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome. 


In beginning his epistles, Paul usually added to the 
formal salutation a thanksgiving and a prayer. Both of 
these are found here, and both of them express the in- 
tense interest felt by Paul in the Christians at Rome to 
whom the letter is addressed, an interest which deepened 
his desire to preach the gospel of Christ in the great central 
city of the world. ‘First, I thank my God’’—even to 
detach this phrase is to state a precious truth. “First, I 
thank my God’’—and when one thus begins a letter, a 
day, a prayer, the bitterness disappears, the clouds drift 
away, the burden is gone. “I thank my God through 
Jesus Christ,”’ writes the apostle, for it is only in virtue of 
Jesus Christ, in view of all he is as the divine Mediator 
and as the Way to the Father, that one draws near to God 
in thanksgiving and prayer, and enjoys that holy intimacy 
expressed by Paul when he uses the phrase ‘my God.” 
Such a sense of personal fellowship, such a consciousness 
of the love of God toward us as individuals should be ex- 
pene by all who come’ unto God “through Jesus 

riste™ 


Rom, 1:8-15 THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS 23 


The reason why Paul returns thanks is the fact that 
wherever he goes throughout the empire or, as he says, 
“throughout the whole world,’ word reaches him con- 
cerning the faith of the believers in Rome, and concerning 
the wide influence they are exerting; for while it is always 
a joy to a Christian worker to learn of the progress of the 
gospel in distant lands, that joy is particularly great when 
the tidings relate to missionary success in such a strategic 
center as that of the capital city. 

Paul rejoices in such tidings from the Roman Christians 
because they are continually in his thoughts, his plans, and 
his prayers. The One who can attest this interest is God 
himself, to whom Paul renders service with the spiritual 
adoration of a worshiper, a service which finds its outward 
expression in his proclamation of the gospel of the Son of 
God. 

The chief burden of his ceaseless prayer, as Paul declares, 
is the request that soon, after many previous delays, the 
Lord will make it possible for him to visit these friends in 
Rome. Paul does not hesitate to make specific petitions 
for definite objects; yet, as here, he accompanies the re- 
quest by the submissive ‘‘if’’ of Christian faith, “if” it 
may be “the will of God.” 

How earnestly he desires to visit this infant church is 
expressed by the words, “‘I long to see you,”’ I am heart- 
sick with yearning, I am heartsick at delay. It is this 
longing which has made him pray so continually, and this 
longing has been caused by his desire to impart to those 
believers ‘‘some spiritual gift’’-—that is, some new de- 
velopment of spiritual life and light, some fuller under- 
standing of the truth, some larger apprehension of the 
grace that is in Christ Jesus, “to the end”’ that in their 
Christian faith and hope they more fully ‘‘may be estab- 
lished.” 

However, Paul at once adds, with equal delicacy and 
tact and sincerity, that he yearns for such a visit not only 
because of the good he would give but also because of the 
good he would receive, because he would be “‘comforted”’ 
by their mutual faith. He realized what every minister of 
Christ has found true, that in imparting spiritual gifts of 


TA THE INTRODUCTION ‘Romi 1: 8-15 


comfort and guidance and hope one’s own soul is immeas- 
urably enriched. 

That the Romans themselves had been Seen such 
a visit, this whole section implies. That an explanation 
was due them for a further delay seems also to be indicated. 
They lived in the capital of the Gentile world; Paul was 
the official apostle to the Gentiles; once before he had 
come as far west as Corinth and had failed to pass on to 
Rome; now again he was at the Greek metropolis and was 
turning back toward the East with a gift for the Jewish 
believers in Jerusalem; surely some message must be sent 
to the Roman Christians, some explanation must be given 
for a further delay in visiting them. 

Therefore Paul employs one of his most emphatic and 
characteristic phrases to introduce the statement that this 
delay is due to no lack of desire on his part: ‘I would not « 
have you ignorant, brethren,’ writes Paul to make the 
following words more impressive, ‘‘oftentimes I purposed 
to come unto-you (and was hindered hitherto). His 
purpose had been steadfast, -but circumstances were be- 
yond his control. Duties may not conflict, but desires for 
service often do. He really yearned to ‘‘have some fruit” 
among these Roman Christians, to serve them and others 
through them, quite as much as among other Gentiles; 
and he had formed a very definite plan of visiting Rome 
and of passing on through Rome far westward to Spain. 
Ultimately his desire and theirs was fulfilled; finally he 
did reach the imperial city, but in a way quite different 
from his plan; he came not as a free herald of the truth, 
passing triumphantly on to new fields of service, but as a 
prisoner, bound with chains, to answer for his life before 
the judgment seat of Caesar. His path lay through tumult 
and prison and storm and shipwreck; yet this was the way 
of Providence; it was thus that his own purpose was ful- 
filled, according to the will of God. 

How earnest that purpose was, he now states with some- 
thing of vehemence. His desire to come to Rome is not 
merely to impart a gift; it is actually to pay a debt: “Iam 
debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise 
and to the foolish.” By the term ‘‘Greeks’’ was denoted 


Rom. 1: 8-15 THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS 29 


all those peoples who, like the Greek and Roman, under- 
stood the language and shared the civilization commonly 
classed as Hellenic or Greek, and were contrasted with 
the comparatively uncivilized peoples and tongues outside 
the molding influence of the ‘‘Greek.” By the “wise”’ 
were meant those inner circles of the educated and cultured 
who were familiar with the literature and philosophy of 
the day, in contrast with the great ‘‘unthinking’’ masses 
who because of their ignorance and lack of education would 
be despised by the cultured classes of the Roman world. 
Paul meant to affirm that he felt under a solemn obligation 
to give to men of all races and classes and degrees of culture 
the gospel which had been committed to him as a sacred 
trust. Nor should any Christian look out upon the peoples 
of the world in any other light. Those unnumbered millions 
whom we call “heathen” or “pagan”’ or “‘Christless’’ are 
our creditors and to them we owe the glorious gospel which 
God has intrusted to us. To proclaim this gospel in all the 
world and to every creature is not a matter of sentiment or 
of choice; it is a moral obligation; it is a sacred duty. 

_ Under the solemn compulsion of such a debt Paul de- 
clares: ‘‘So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach 
the gospel to you also that are in Rome.” He is saying 
that he is ready, he is prepared, he is eager; if there is any 
delay it is no fault of his, no lack of desire on his part, but 
it is due to his circumstances and not to his choice. For 
the present, God had for Paul other fields of labor, but the 
delay was wisely ordered; it resulted in the writing of this 
epistle, which has been called ‘the chief book of the New 
Testament and the perfect gospel.” 


26 THE INTRODUCTION Rom. 1: 16, 17 


C. THE THEME OF THE EPISTLE. Ch. 1:16, 17 


16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power 
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew 
first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is revealed a 
righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, 
But the righteous shall live by faith. 


In beginning his letter Paul has been assuring his read- 
ers, the Christians at Rome, of his deep interest in them 
and of his earnest desire to visit them and to preach among 
them the gospel of Christ. He now states the supreme 
source of this desire. It is found in his love for the gospel 
and in his confidence in its saving power. 

“Tam not ashamed of the gospel,’’ writes the apostle, 
and possibly he means that he is proud of the gospel. A 
negative statement is sometimes the most emphatic way 
of expressing an implied opposite, as for instance “not far 
from the kingdom”’ means “very near to the kingdom”’ 
and “no mean city”’ denotes a famous and prominent city. 
So here, when Paul writes that he is ‘‘not ashamed of the 
gospel”’ he may intend to say that he rejoices in the gospel 
and glories in the gospel. 

On the other hand, there were reasons why the gospel 
might have been regarded as a cause of shame. Paul re- 
membered how he had suffered for the gospel at Ephesus 
and at Philippi and at Corinth. He knew how foolish, to 
the wise mén of the world, seemed that story of salvation 
through faith in a crucified Christ; and_now, because of 
his long delay in proclaiming that message in mighty 
Rome, the center and symbol of imperial power and pomp 
and pride, it might be supposed that his delay was due to 
timidity or fear lest the gospel might seem.to be an im- 
potent and ineffectual thing in that great capital where all 
the forces of the world were centered and combined. 

On the contrary, Paul declares that he is not ashamed 
of that gospel. Whatever may have occasioned his delay 
in visiting Rome, it has not been due to any fear on his 


Nome bi 6017 THE THEME ae 


part. He does realize the difficulties of the situation and 
the obstacles which will oppose him; his purpose is no 
jaunty and light-hearted plan of adventure; nevertheless 
he has no fear, no reluctance, no shame. He knows that 
the gospel is “‘the power of God unto salvation.” 

Thus, whether his statement that he is ‘‘not ashamed of 
the gospel’’ expressed Paul’s pride or his lack of shame, in 
either case it serves to introduce the great theme of his 
epistle, namely, ‘“‘the gospel’ as ‘“‘the power of God unto 
salvation,’ the revelation of the ‘righteousness’? which 
isan byaiaith: } 

The gospel is thus defined in terms of “ power’’; it can 
do something; it is not a mere ornament, not simply a 
pleasing story, not only an interesting system of philoso- 
phy. It is “the power of God’’; it can therefore do any- 
thing. It is ‘the power of God unto salvation”’; it can 
therefore do everything the human soul needs for time and 
for eternity. It is ‘‘to every one that believeth’’; it can 
do everything that is needed for everyone. 

Thus Paul states the nature, the result, the freeness, and 
the universality of the gospel. It is designed to bring sal- 
vation to everyone who believes in Christ. This last idea 
Paul emphasizes by adding ‘‘to the Jew first, and also to 
the Greek.’’ Here the term Greek is intended to denote 
the whole Gentile world in contrast with the Jew. Salva- 
tion is proclaimed for the Jew “‘first,’’ not only in time, 
but by way of eminence. The Scriptures are his, the prom- 
ises are his, the Christ is his “according to the flesh.” 
However, no Jew can be saved aside from faith in Christ, 
and by faith in Christ any Gentile can be saved. This fa- 
miliar but inexhaustible word ‘‘salvation’’ may be inter- 
preted in terms of deliverance from sin, or of new spiritual 
life and soundness of soul. It denotes deliverance from 
the guilt of sin, granted to those who are “‘justified’’; and 
deliverance from the power of sin, experienced by those 
who are being “‘sanctified’’; and deliverance from the very 
presence and results of sin, enjoyed by those who are glori- 
fied. Thus ‘‘salvation’’ may be regarded as past or present 
or future; in the first aspect, this theme is expanded in the 
opening five chapters of this letter. In the second and 


/ 


28 THE INTRODUCTION Rom. 1: 16, 17 


third aspects, it is developed in the sixth and seventh and 
eighth chapters. However, as a life of holiness and service, 
‘“salvation”’ is set forth in the closing or ‘‘practical’’ por- 
tion of the epistle. Thus in the widest use of the term, 
“salvation”? may be interpreted to include all that a be- 
liever receives through faith in Christ, from the time he is 
pardoned as a penitent sinner until he realizes his fullest 
blessedness in eternal glory. 

Paul further explains that the power of the gospel is due 
to the fact that ‘‘therein is revealed a righteousness of 
God from faith unto faith.’”” One may note the importance 
to the argument of the little word ‘‘for.’’ Paul desires to 
preach in Rome ‘“‘for’’ he is not ashamed of the gospel; 
and he is not ashamed of the gospel “‘for”’ it is ‘‘the power 
of God”’; and it is the power of God “‘for”’ it reveals ‘“‘a 
righteousness of God”’ which is “from faith unto faith.” 

The phrase “righteousness of God”’ as used in this par- 
ticular verse does not refer to God’s justice or to any of 
his attributes; nor yet does it denote the moral character 
wrought in man by the Spirit of God, but rather that 
right relation to the requirements of divine law which 
God provides for those who trust in Christ. It signifies 
the acceptance granted to sinful man by a holy God. It 
is provided in and through Christ, and denotes God’s way 
of justifying the unrighteous, God’s method of liberating 
his love while vindicating his law. 

As an old Puritan quaintly defined it, ‘‘The righteous- 
ness of God is that righteousness which God’s righteousness 
requires him to require’’; that is, an infinitely holy God 
can require of man nothing less than perfect righteousness, 
but as man cannot attain this by himself, God provides it 
for him through faith in Christ. Or, as another has ex- 
pressed it, ‘‘ The righteousness of God is the sum total of 
all that God commands, demands, approves, and himself 
provides through Jesus Christ.”’ 

God is therefore the Source, or the Giver, of this right- 
eousness; man cannot attain or achieve it; he accepts it 
as a free gift by faith alone. It is ‘‘a righteousness of God 
from faith unto faith’’; that is, it is of faith, first and last 
and wholly. 


Rom. 1: 16, 17 THE THEME 29 


However, faith is not the mere intellectual acceptance 
of a truth; it expresses a relation to a divine Person, an 
attitude of trust and submission and love. That such an 
attitude of heart and mind brings one into right relation 
to God is no new truth. “Justification by faith” has been 
always the divine way of dealing with man, and therefore 
to attest the correctness of his great theme and to show 
the Jew that the gospel is in perfect accord with the teach- 
ings of the Old Testament, Paul closes with a familiar 
quotation from Habakkuk: ‘But the righteous shall live 
by faith.’ The old patriot and prophet whose words are 
thus quoted was pleading with Judah to trust in Jehovah 
and to obey him; and Paul intimates that the principle 
involved is permanent. The condition of receiving divine 
help is the same to-day as it was of old. The only hope for 
the men of Judah was to live by faith; and so, since God 
has revealed his redeeming love in Jesus Christ, the one 
who puts his trust in that Saviour is accepted of God, he 
possesses the ‘‘righteousness of God,’ he is justified by 
faith; for ‘‘the righteous shall live by faith.” 

No wonder that Paul was eager to preach a gospel which 
revealed so gloriously God’s way of salvation, and no 
wonder that the expansion of this theme resulted in what 
may be regarded as the masterpiece among all his epistles. 


30 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 1:18-22 


II. DoctriInaL INstRucTIONS. Chs. 1 : 18 to 11 : 36 
Ae JUSPIFICA TION BY BAL Pile Chicnies Lsapoucmee 
1. The Universal Need of Righteousness. Chs. 1:18 to 3: 20 


When Paul has stated the great theme of his epistle to 
be the righteousness which the gospel reveals, and which 
God provides for believers in Christ, he naturally begins 
his discussion by showing how universally and desperately 
such righteousness is needed by the human race. He first 
dwells upon the need of the Gentile nations and then of 
the Jews, and thus concludes that all men have sinned and 
are under the condemnation of God. Or, as logically 
arranged, the contents of this section, chs. 1 : 18 to 3: 20, 
have been stated as follows: 

Whosoever sins incurs the judgment of God from which 
he can be delivered only by the righteousness of God, 
ch. 2: 1-16. But the heathen, although taught by nature 
and conscience, ch. 1: 18-32, and the Jews, although 
possessing the Mosaic Law, chs. 2:17 to 3:8, have 
sinned by falling short of, or contradicting, their respective 
standards of righteousness. Therefore, as the Old Testa- 
ment had already proclaimed, the whole world is under the 
judgment of God and accordingly needs his righteousness, 
Chins GAD 20): 


a. The Guilt of the Gentile World. Ch. 1: 18-32 


18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all 
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the 
truth in unrighteousness; 19 because that which is known 
of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto 
them. 20 For the invisible things of him since the creation 
of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the 
things that are made, even his everlasting power and di- 
vinity; that they may be without excuse: 21 because that, 
knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave 
thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their 
senseless heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to 


Rome 26-32) JUSTIFICATION BY, FAITH Bh 


be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of 
the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of cor- 
ruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and 
creeping things. 

24 Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts 
unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored 
among themselves: 25 for that they exchanged the truth of 
God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather 
than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 

26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: 
for their women changed the natural use into that which is 
against nature: 27 and likewise also the men, leaving the 
natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward 
another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving 
in themselves that recompense of their error which was due. 

28 And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, 
God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things 
which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, 
wickedness, covetousness, mialiciousness; full of envy, 
murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 backbiters, 
hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of 
evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, 
covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful: 
32 who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they that prac- 
tise such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, 
but also consent with them that practise them. 


This dark and painful picture of the pagan world is only 
the more distressing when we remember that it is painted 
in even more revolting detail by the classical writers of 
the Roman world. 

It is a picture of the degradation into which mankind 
ever sinks when turning from the truth of God and no 
longer restrained by his grace. 

It was given as the reason why Paul gloried in the gospel 
and desired to have it proclaimed in Rome. It should 
arouse all Christian readers to-day to hasten the preaching 
of this gospel as the only hope of the human race. The 
entire paragraph, vs. 18-32 is summarized in verse 18, 
which states (1) that the truth as to God has been manifest 
to men, vs. 19, 20; (2) that by them it has been hindered 
or repelled, vs. 21-23; and (3) that consequently the wrath 
of God has been revealed as resting upon them, vs. 24-32. 


52 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 1:18-32 


“The wrath of God” is a phrase which easily may be 
misunderstood. It must not be associated with any ideas 
of human passion or frailty or revenge. It must not make 
us unmindful of the universal love of God. It isin fact the 
reverse side of hislove. It is the attitude against sin which 
a holy God must take as he sees how sin wounds and 
tortures and destroys the creatures who are the special 
objects of his care. God loves the sinner but he hates and 
punishes sin. 

His wrath ‘‘is revealed,’”’ not in the gospel alone or by 
any supernatural act but by what history shows of the 
degradation which results from sin, and the universal con- 
viction of the race that sin is inevitably punished by pain 
and misery and death. This revelation is ‘from heaven,”’ 
the dwelling place and throne of God; by which is meant 
that this inseparable relation between sin and punishment 
is a divine arrangement. It operates as a natural law, but 
it is in accordance with a divinely established order. 

This condemnation of God is revealed “‘against all un- 
godliness and unrighteousness of men’’; that is, against all 
impiety, or all failures in the religious sphere, and against 
all injustice, or all failures in the moral sphere. This dis- 
tinction is kept up through the remainder of the chapter, 
where the apostle pictures first the impiety and then the 
immorality of the heathen world. 

Both these forms of guilt are due to the fact that men 
are refusing to live in accordance with the light given them. 
They sinfully “hinder the truth” ; they repress it, they hold 
it down or hold it back, so that it is not allowed to produce 
its natural effect upon moral conduct. This truth is none 
other than the truth concerning God, and so concerning 
right and duty. 

(1) The truth has been manifested both in the light of 
conscience and by the witness of external nature, vs. 19, 20. 
“’That-which is known of God,” without the revelation in 
Christ, is revealed in the hearts and minds of men. 
This revelation is imparted by God himself, and it 
is mentally discerned by reflecting upon his works. 
These display his ‘everlasting power and divinity.”’ 
Probably the first impression which nature gives is 


Rom. 1:18-32 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 33 


that of power; it speaks to a thoughtful mind of a 
First Cause, of an unseen Creator, whose power is 
limitless; yet it also speaks of his ‘“‘divinity,’’ that is, 
of his other perfections, his wisdom and his goodness. 
The very world itself is described by the word ‘‘cosmos,”’ 
which means “‘order,’’ and which argues for design on the 
part of the Maker. Then, too, as a closer knowledge of the 
world points back the mind to vistas of uncounted ages, 
one naturally concludes that the creative Power is “‘ever- 
lasting,’’ eternal; and the attributes thus revealed in nature 
all testify that this eternal Power is a divine Person. Thus 
arguing from ‘“‘cause and effect,’’ from ‘design,’ from 
“order” and from ‘‘being,’’ man finds in external nature 
that real knowledge of God which the voice of conscience 
confirms. Possibly Christians do not always appreciate 
natural religion as fully as they should. It gives such a 
true revelation of God that men have no excuse for either 
impiety or injustice. In fact, its very design is ‘‘that they 
may be without excuse.” This startling statement, how- 
ever, must be interpreted to mean merely that in case 
man fell into error as to belief or conduct, the fault would 
be wholly his own. 

(2) Asa matter of fact, this truth has been hindered and 
repelled and corrupted and lost, vs. 21-23. Paul here states 
the important and practical principle that religious knowl- 
edge unless acted upon never can be retained. He traces 
the steps by which the heathen world descended from a 
knowledge of the true God to the most degraded and 
ignorant idolatry; and it is possible even to-day for men 
to move in the same direction. 

First, there was indifference to God. Knowing him, they 
neither praised him for his perfections nor thanked him for 
his goodness: ‘‘They glorified him not as God, neither 
gave thanks.” 

Then, they ‘became vain in their reasonings,’’ for noth- 
ing can be more ridiculous than the religious speculations 
of irreligious men. Those who refuse to worship God, and 
who do not love to obey him are often the authors ot 
theories and mistaken beliefs as popular as they are 
“empty’’ and absurd. 


34 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 1:18-32 


Then, they totally forgot God. ‘Their senseless heart 
was darkened.” The whole inner being, deprived of a 
knowledge of truth and holiness and right, became wholly 
corrupted. 

The next state which resulted was that of intellectual 
pride coexisting with spiritual and moral folly. ‘‘ Professing 
themselves to be wise, they became fools.’”’ V, 22. Such, 
in view of their spiritual impotence and their inability to 
keep men from moral corruption, is the divine estimate of 
the proudest philosophers of Greece and of Rome, and of 
all the boasted wisdom of the Euphrates and the Nile. 
Even to-day the blindest infidelity is coincident with the 
most insufferable conceit. The modern wise man worships 
himself. The folly of the ancient world manifested itself 
in gross forms of idolatry. This was the last stage in 
religious degeneracy: “They . . . changed the glory of 
the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of 
corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and 
creeping things.’’ The odiousness of idolatry is not only 
in its resultant immorality but in that it caricatures and 
slanders God. It does not stop in likening him to a man, 
but it figures him asa bird, a beast, or a reptile, and teaches 
men to offer divine worship to the most foul and repulsive 
forms. 

Such is Paul’s startling review of the religious history of 
the race. Beginning with the worship of the living and 
true God, mankind gradually descended to idolatry and 
fetishism. The development has not been upward, but 
downward. Paganism has no saving power in itself. The 
only hope for the world lies in the gospel of Christ. 

(3) Finally, Paul shows how “the wrath of God’’ has 
been revealed, vs. 24-32. It has been manifested in his 
abandonment of the heathen to the consequences of their 
guilt. They willfully turned from him, and became wor- 
shippers of idols, and he therefore allowed them to suffer 
the inevitable result of an ever deepening moral degrada- 
tion. 

_ In this degeneration, Paul notes three stages, each one 
marked by the statement, ‘‘God gave them up.” Vs. 24, 
26, 28. 


Rout eis si JolIbiCATION: BY FAITH Se, 


First of all, he “gave them up . . . unto uncleanness.”’ 
their impure desires down into the abyss of immorality 
and vice; and this because they chose to worship ‘“‘the 
creature rather than the Creator,” the ever-blessed God. 
Vs. 24, 25. 

Thus Paul intimates that morality depends upon re- 
ligion, and cannot endure long without the sanctions of 
religion. Nor can anyone to-day neglect the worship of 
God without falling into the peril of evil thoughts and 
impure desires. 

Secondly, ‘‘God gave them up unto vile passions.” 
They became the victims of the most abnormal lusts and 
the most degrading vices. Vs. 26, 27. All of the abomina- 
tions to which Paul refers are said to be fully corroborated 
by the heathen writers of his day. Their very statements 
emphasize the truths that sin brings its own punishment 
in the form of more shameful sins and that the yielding 
to wrong desire always results in bondage to passions even 
more perverse and ‘‘vile.”’ 

Lastly, Paul declares, ‘‘God gave them up unto a repro- 
bate mind,’ a mind in which the distinctions between 
right and wrong are confused or lost, a mind upon which 
the disapproval of God cannot fail to rest. Such an inner 
disposition cannot fail to express itself in ‘things which 
are not fitting,’ which cannot be thought to be suitable 
or right. Of these Paul gives some twenty-one examples, 
and reaches the climax of his terrible indictment in the 
statement that those guilty of these crimes commit them 
with the full knowledge of the penalty of death which 
they deserve, and, worst of all, they rejoice in others, and 
encourage others, who practice the same sins. 

This willful impurity, springing from defiant impiety, 
forms together with it a more melancholy and vivid and 
detailed picture of the universal depravity of the heathen 
world than Paul furnishes in any other portion of his 
epistles. 

Is it not true that the elements of this picture are re- 
produced in all quarters of the world to-day? Was there 
not need, and is there not need, of that righteousness which 


36 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 2:1-16 


God graciously provides for all through the Saviour, 
Jesus Christ his Son? 


b. The Principles of Divine Judgment. Ch. 2: 1-16 


1 Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever 
thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou 
condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practise the 
same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God is 
according to truth against them that practise such things. 
3 And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that 
practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt 
escape the judgment of God? 4 Or despisest thou the riches 
of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not 
knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repent- 
ance? 5 but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treas- 
urest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation 
of the righteous judgment of God; 6 who will render to every 
man according to his works: 7 to them that by patience in 
well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal 
life: 8 but unto them that are factious, and obey not the 
truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indig- 
nation, 9 tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man 
that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek; 
10 but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh 
good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek: 11 for there is 
no respect of persons with God. 12 For as many as have 
sinned without the law shall also perish without the law: 
and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged 
by the law; 13 for not the hearers of the law are just before 
God, but the doers of the law shall be justified; 14 (for when 
Gentiles that have not the law do by nature the things of the 
law, these, not having the law, are the law unto themselves; 
15 in that they show the work of the law written in their 
hearts, their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their 
thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing them); 
16 in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, 
according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ. 


A large part of the religion of some men seems to consist 
in their readiness to find fault with others. Such was the 
case of the Jew whom Paul here describes. In the midst of 
the flood of Gentile pollution and iniquities, which Paul 
has pictured in the preceding chapter, he sees one who, 


Romy 2.t-16 9JUolIFICATION BY FAITH aif) 


like a judge, from the heights of his tribunal, sends a stern 
look over the corrupt mass, condemning the evil which 
pervades it and applauding the wrath of God which pun- 
ishes it. The man is not named, however, until Paul pro- 
ceeds, vs. 17-29, to set forth the guilt and condemnation 
of the Jew. Meanwhile Paul sets forth the fact of divine 
judgment and its two great principles. Ch. 2: 1-16. 

(1) The fact of divine judgment is here stated in view 
of the sins of the heathen world and of the condemnation 
of them by the Jew. “And we know that the judgment of 
God is according to truth against them that practise such 
things.” This is really a statement of the fundamental fact 
underlying the opening chapters of the epistle. Chs. 1:18 
to 3: 20. Whosoever sins incurs the condemnation of God, 
he here declares; but the Gentiles have sinned, ch. 1: 18- 
32, and the Jews have sinned, chs. 2:17 to 3: 8; therefore 
the whole world is guilty and in need of the righteousness 
which God provides, ch. 3: 9-20. 

To the fact of the inevitable punishment of sin, con- 
science is a witness. This is what Paul means as he ad- 
dresses the one who is criticizing the Gentile world. 
‘‘Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever 
thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, 
thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost prac- 
tise the same things.’’ Ch. 2:1. The criticism of others 
shows that one has a conscience, but if he has a conscience 
by which he condemns his fellow men, he should be guided 
by that conscience himself. The deceitfulness of the human 
heart is strikingly exhibited in the different judgments 
which men place on themselves and others, condemning 
in others what they excuse in themselves. Not infre- 
quently the most censorious are the most guilty. Men 
commonly observe in others the faults which exist in them- 
selves. 

So, too, those who are most censorious of others seem to 
imagine that they will be judged by some other _rule.and 
thus escape the condemnation of God. At least, Paul so 
intimated in reference to the Jew: ‘““And we know that the 
judgment of God is according to truth against them that 
practise such things. And reckonest thou this, O man, 


38 * DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 221-16 


who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the 
same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” Vs. 
2, 3. The Jew seems to have supposed that he occupied a 
privileged position. He imagined that in some way he 
could escape the judgment which was coming upon the 
Gentile, whereas in reality, this judgment would be“ accord- 
ing to truth,” that is, in accordance with guilt, with facts, 
and with desert. 

Then, again, the Jew was falsely interpreting the very 
mercy of God. He was despising it as merely good-natured 
indifference to sin: ‘‘Or despisest thou the riches of his 
goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing ° 
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?’’ 
V. 4. Towards the Jews, God had shown peculiar goodness 
and patience and forbearance. They had misunderstood 
his purpose, which was to incline them to forsake their 
sins; instead, by their hardness and impenitence of heart, 
they had treasured up for themselves “wrath in the day 
of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”’ 
VOo, 

There is to be such a day of retribution and punishment, 
a day when God’s opposition to disobedience and sin must 
be manifested against sinners. This fact the universal 
conscience of mankind attests. 

(2) The principles of such judgment, however, will be 
absolutely just: (a) Each man will be judged according to 
his deeds, vs. 6-14; and (b) each man will be judged ac- 
cording to his light, vs. 12-16, 

Thus God, as Paul continues to affirm, (a) ‘will render 
to every man according to his works.”’ The final awards of 
God are to be not according to a man’s profession; the 
Jew thought that he might escape because he had Abraham 
as his father. Nor are these awards to be according to 
man’s relations in life; the Jew thought that he was secure © 
because he belonged to the chosen race and was thus an 
heir of the Kingdom. God is to award to every man ac- 
cording to his conduct; for, as Paul asserts in his climax, 
“there is no respect of persons with God,” v. 11. The 
intervening verses are an impressive enlargement and ap- 
plication of this principle, that judgment will be according 


Rom. 2:1-16 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 39 


to conduct. To those whose rule in life is to persevere in 
doing good, whose object in life is to obtain hereafter a 
glorious, honored, imperishable existence, God will give 
“eternal life,’ a reward which does not mean merely an 
endless continuance of existence, but a kind of existence, 
life in its fullness, a life of blessedness, a life of glory. 

On the other hand, to those who belong to the class of 
selfish intriguers, whose motive is not “the truth’ but 
immorality, there will be God’s anger in its tranquil, 
judicial form of “wrath,” and in its outward self-manifes- 
tation of ‘‘indignation.”’ 

Then, in reverse order, Paul emphatically repeats his 
statements as to God’s judging men according to their 
works. There will be outward calamity and inward anguish 
upon every soul belonging to a man who brings evil to 
pass, ‘‘of the Jew first, and also of the Greek’’; but there 
will be radiance of glory, honor, and eternal repose to 
every man who works at what is good, “‘to the Jew first, 
and also to the Greek.” 

Of course it is needless here to raise the question as to 
whether this passage teaches salvation by works instead 
of by faith. The words must be read in connection with 
the chapters of the epistle of which they are a part. Suffice 
it to say that one who does so “‘seek for glory and honor 
and incorruption”’ will naturally accept the way which 
God provides through Jesus Christ, and only through 
faith will any man be able to attain that righteousness 
which God requires. This, however, is a thought aside 
from Paul’s immediate argument. His emphatic statement 
here is to the effect that the regular judgment of God will 
be according to the conduct and the deeds of men. 

(b) The judgment of God will be also according to the 
light which each one severally has enjoyed. Vs. 12-16. 
This is a further proof of the justice of God, v. 11, for, as 
the ground of judgment is to be ‘“‘works,”’ so the rule of 
judgment is to be light: “For as many as have sinned 
without the law shall also perish without the law: and as 
many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the 
law,” v. 12. That is, the heathen who have sinned without 
the advantage of the Mosaic Law will perish also by the 


= 


40) DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 2:1-16 


sentence of God, as being unfaithful to the light of nature 
but without any reference to the Mosaic Law; and the 
Jews, who have sinned in the midst of a system of revealed 
law, will be judged by this law as if it were the author of 
their condemnation. 

Thus sin is the cause of death—not election or pre- 
destination, not lack of knowledge or ignorance of Christ, 
but voluntary, willful sin, disobedience to law, unfaith- 
fulness to light, will occasion “death.” The word “ perish”’ 
finds its contrasts in such statements as ‘‘salvation,”’ 
ch, 1:16; “shall. live,’ “ch. 1:175 *“eternals lite, Gi we ee 
“olory,”’ ch. 2:10. It is further contrasted with the word 
‘‘judged”’ in the same verse. The heathen shall perish as 
the natural consequence of their moral corruption. The 
Jews, and all who have enjoyed a clear and positive revela- 
tion of the will of God, will be subjected to a detailed 
inquiry such as arises from applying the particular articles 
of a code. The Jews, therefore, instead of occupying a 
privileged position because of their familiarity with the 
Mosaic Law will be held actually more accountable: “ For 
not*the hearers of the law are just before God, but the 
doers of the law shall be justified.”” V. 13. 

Paul here is not stating the way and power by which a 
man can obey law and can be just before God. He is simply 
declaring that God is impartial and will judge every man 
according to his works and his light; but it is the very de- 
sign of Paul to show that on these principles no flesh can 
be justified, ch. 3: 20. 

This question, however, arises: If only “‘doers of the 
law”’ are “‘justified,’’ how can the rule apply to Gentiles 
who have never heard the law? The answer is that the 
general rule does apply in principle to Gentiles, for their 
moral instincts and their consciences are to them what 
the revealed law of Sinai is to the Jews. That they have 
some standards of right and wrong written, not on tab- 
lets of stone, but on their hearts, is evidenced by their 
actions, by their recognition of the voice of conscience, 
and by their expressions of moral judgments. Vs. 14, 15. 

It is evident, then, that in spite of his severe arraign- 
ment of the heathen world in the preceding chapter, Paul 


Rom. 2:17-19 TUSUTIPIGATIONT BY SPRATT TH 41 


recognized certain indestructible moral elements as still 
remaining. Something good could be found in the nature 
of even the most degraded heathen. Some law is still 
written on their hearts. This is a great source of encourage- 
ment as one seeks to find an entrance into their hearts for 
the gospel of Christ. None is wholly indifferent to kind- 
ness and love. 

It should further be noticed that Paul indicates here 
that conscience is universal and infallible. Of course it 
cannot tell a man what is right and wrong, but it never 
fails to indicate to him whether his purpose was consciously 
right or wrong. That is to say, conscience may need en- 
lightenment but it never fails to approve or rebuke what 
is right or wrong in moral intention. However, for its 
enlightenment it needs both the revealed law of God and 
his glorious gospel of grace. 

While recognizing that the heathen perform many deeds 
which accord with the requirements of law, Paul declares 
that they so habitually transgress this law that, judging 
by its requirements, they will stand condemned “in the 
day when God shall judge the secrets of men.” V. 16. 
It is further declared that all which has been said as to the 
certainty and the principles of divine judgment is ‘“‘ac- 
cording to’’ the gospel which Paul has preached. They 
are essential parts of it. The good news of salvation is 
incomplete unless it warns men of the ‘“‘wrath to come”’ 
and points out to men the need as well as the way of sal- 
vation. 

Last of all, Paul declares that this divine judgment is 
to be administered by Jesus Christ. He is “to be the Judge 
of the living and the dead.”’ Yet the burden of this very 
epistle is to show how he can secure pardon and purity 
and peace and eternal blessedness for all, whether Jews or 
Gentiles, who put their trust in him. 


Graal pe Gutlt of the: Jew. “Chs. 2216 to-338. 


17 But if thou bearest the name of a Jew, and restest upon 
the law, and gloriest in God, 18 and knowest his will, and 
approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed 
out of the law, 19 and art confident that thou thyself art a 


42 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 2:20 to 3:8 


guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness, 
20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having in 
the law the form of knowledge and of the truth; 21 thou 
therefore that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? 
thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? 
22 thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, 
dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost 
thou rob temples? 23 thou who gloriest in the law, through 
thy transgression of the law dishonorest thou God? 24 For 
the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles be- 
cause of you, even as it is written. 25 For circumcision 
indeed profiteth, if thou be a doer of the law: but if thou 
be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision is become 
uncircumcision. 26 If therefore the uncircumcision keep 
the ordinances of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be 
reckoned for circumcision? 27 and shall not the uncir- 
cumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge 
thee, who with the letter and circumcision art a transgres- 
sor of the law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one out- 
wardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in 
the flesh: 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and 
circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the let- 
ter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 

1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what is the 
profit of circumcision? 2 Much every way: first of all, that 
they were intrusted with the oracles of God. 3 For what if 
some were without faith? shall their want of faith make of 
none effect the faithfulness of God? 4 God forbid: yea, let 
God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, 

That thou mightest be justified in thy words, 

And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment. 
5 But if our unrighteousness commendeth the righteousness 
of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who visiteth 
with wrath? (Ispeak after the manner of men.) 6 God forbid: 
for then how shall God judge the world? 7 But if the truth 
of God through my lie abounded unto his glory, why am I also 
still judged as a sinner? 8 and why not (as we are slander- 
ously reported, and as some affirm that we say), Let us do 
evil, that good may come? whose condemnation is just. 


It is surprising to see how seldom men realize the rather 
obvious truth that great opportunities are inseparable 
from great obligations. This is true of those who enjoy 
special privileges of power or of wealth or of knowledge. 
One of the most striking instances is in the case of the 


Rom. 2:17 to 3:8 -JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 43 


teachers who boast infallible accuracy in their interpre- 
tation of Christian truth and yet show no more Christian 
love and honesty and helpfulness than the very men they 
denounce as heretical and false. 

This was exactly the case of the Jews whom Paul is 
here describing. They were actually less sinful and de- 
graded than the Gentiles yet, judged by their conduct, 
and in view of their superior moral enlightenment and 
religious privileges, they were relatively no better; they 
were equally guilty in the sight of the law, and just as 
truly in need of the righteousness which God demands, 
which can be found only by faith in Christ. 

(1) The superior position and responsibility of the Jew, 
vs. 17-20, are set forth, first, in terms defining his unique 
relation to God. The very name of ‘Jew,’ which he 
boasted, indicated that he belonged to the chosen race, 
the covenant people of God. The law upon which he 
relied as a guarantee of his salvation, the whole Mosaic 
system, and the Jews’ entire civil and religious polity, 
were gifts from the hand of God. This very God in whom 
they placed a false confidence, supposing themselves the 
exclusive objects of his love even when disobeying his 
law, is indeed the living and true God. They did possess a 
peculiar knowledge of his will, although they regarded 
this knowledge as itself so precious as to make correspond- 
ing obedience relatively unimportant. They claimed a 
unique ability to detect the most delicate shades of moral 
distinction, being “instructed out of the law,” trained by 
oral instruction in the whole content of the Scriptures 
which are indeed the very Word of God. 

The superior position of the Jew is set forth, in the 
second place, by four current and highly colored titles 
defining the Jew’s relation to the heathen, which, in view 
of the Jew’s moral failure, Paul mentions with a slight 
touch of ridicule: ‘‘Thou thyself art a guide of the blind, 
a light of them that are in darkness, a corrector of the 
foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the law the form [the 
exact outline, the precise formula] of knowledge and of the 
tree 

All these advantages of the Jew were real, and all these 


44. DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 2:17 to 3:8 


by easy comparison can be applied to Christians. They, 
too, have a unique relation to God as a people chosen for 
‘‘his own possession’’; they, too, are expected to be the 
moral guides and the religious leaders of the world; and 
if they fail to show superior virtue and unselfishness and 
purity and love, their guilt is correspondingly greater. 

(2) The guilt of the Jew, vs. 21-24, is set forth in striking 
contrast with his advantages which Paul has just enumer- 
ated. He is charged with theft and adultery and sacrilege, 
and with other transgressions of the very law in which he 
gloried, by which transgression God was dishonored, and, 
as a result, his name was;‘‘ blasphemed among the Gentiles.” 
The last words are quoted from the Old Testament 
prophets, not so much as a fulfilled prophecy as a fitting 
descriptive phrase. In ancient days the Gentiles beheld 
the misery of Israel and blasphemed God as one who was 
not able to protect his own people and worshipers; in the 
time of Paul, the Gentiles were blaspheming the name of 
God as One who could not keep from sin his chosen people, 
the custodians of his law and the special objects of his 
orace. 

So to-day reproach is often brought upon the name of 
Christ by the inconsistencies of Christians. They are not 
worse than other men; they are usually much better, but 
in comparison with their high claims and in view of their 
exalted privileges, their conduct is often unworthy of their 
Lord. When, for instance, the world remembers the loving 
spirit of the Master and beholds the bitterness and un- 
kindness of his followers, it often utters with irony the 
once beautiful phrase of Tertullian: ‘‘See how these Christ- 
ians love one another.” 

(3) In the third place, to_establish the guilt of the Jew, 
Paul answers certain objections that the Jew is ‘supposed 
to make to the charge that he, as truly as the Gentile, is 
under the condemnation of God. Chs. 2 : 25 to3 : 8. 

One objection is that circumcision is of no profit or 
avail if those thus sealed as the people of God are none the 
less under his disapproval and wrath. To this Paul replies 
that a mere outward seal or sign has no validity unless it 
is accompanied by the faith and obedience which the sign 


Rota lito goo UollhiCA TION BYYEATTEH 45 


is supposed to signify. There were, indeed, real blessings 
belonging to the people of God, but these were conditional 
upon obedience to his law. True “‘circumcision’’ was the 
putting away from the heart of all evil desires and thoughts. 
Those were God’s true people, whether Jews or Gentiles, 
who put their trust in him and obeyed his holy will: 
‘For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; . . . but he 
is a Jew who is one inwardly.” 

Nor have these words of Paul lost their meaning for the 
Christian Church. Its sacraments have deep significance 
when they are accompanied by faith and love, and when 
they express a real spiritual relation to God; but if these 
are absent, then Church membership or sacraments or 
ritual observances become meaningless and empty forms. 
The true Christian is not a man who has merely submitted 
to certain rites, but one who has adopted these rites 
because he believes that they were established by his 
Lord and desires thus to express his love and devotion 
to him, seeking for praise ‘‘not of men, but of God,” ch. 
Zeedo= 29. 

To Paul’s charge of guilt against the Jew, another 
objection is supposed to be raised: Paul has proved too 
much; if the Jew, in spite of his possession of the law, in 
spite of his being sealed as a member of a chosen race, 1s 
under ‘‘the wrath of God,” and is as truly under con- 
demnation as the Gentile, then the Jew has no advantage 
over the Gentile, a suggestion as abhorrent to the Jew as 
it was contrary to his sacred Scriptures. ‘What advantage 
then hath the Jew? or what is the profit of circumcision?”’ 
Ch. 3:1. “‘Much every way,” replies the apostle, “first 
of all, that they were intrusted with the oracles of God,’’ 
v. 2. This trust was indeed a treasure; it did place the 
Jew in a position of privilege, not only because it gave to 
him a matchless revelation of God’s will, but because it 
contained God’s promises of a coming Saviour and God’s 
assurances that Israel should some day be a source of 
blessing to the whole world. The rejection of the Messiah, 
the unbelief of some Jews, could not ‘‘make of none effect 
the faithfulness of God.” Rather, his punishment of those 
who refused to believe, and his future fulfillment of his 


46 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 2:17 to 3:8 


promises of blessing, would bring into fuller light his 
justice and his grace. 

David appreciated this principle. When he had fallen 
into sin, and had turned to God in penitence, he felt that 
his very sin was designed to bring into stronger relief the 
justice of God. Speaking of that justice as though it could 
be brought to trial, he declares its absolute and complete 
acquittal: 

“That thou mightest be justified in thy words, 
And mightest prevail when thou comest into judg- 
ment.” \V. 4. 

To this conclusion an objection is at once supposed: 
If the unbelief and sin of the Jew has been the occasion for 
the clearer revelation of the justice of God, has it not been 
of real service to God, and can God, will God, punish one 
who has thus really conferred a favor upon God? 

To this objection Paul makes two solemn answers: 
First, on this ground there could be no judgment, for at 
last, every man could say that his sin had been the occasion 
of revealing the justice of God in punishing sin. Secondly, 
if the good which God brings out of evil justifies the evil, 
then all might act on the false principle of doing evil that 
good might come. However, Paul at once repudiates this 
principle as odious, as he turns from the denial of a future 
judgment as absurd. Vs. 5-8. 

Here Paul has brought his readers into the sphere of 
great mysteries, but he states clearly certain supremely 
important truths. 

(a) God does give to some men peculiar advantages and 
privileges; but he requires of them proportionate faithful- 
ness and service. Christians do have advantages over 
pagans; the possession of the Bible and the gospel and the 
means of grace are great privileges; but judged by their 
conduct, in view of such advantages, Christians can make 
no claim of righteousness or of merit; their only hope is in 
the redemption that is in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

(b) The promises of God to Israel are certain to be 
fulfilled, in spite of partial blindness and temporary un- 
belief. As Paul shows more perfectly in the ninth, tenth, 
and eleventh chapters of the epistle, a converted Israel is 


Rom. 3: 9-20 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 47 


yet to be a source of blessing to all the nations of the world. 

(c) A coming judgment, when rewards and penalties 
will be determined according to conduct and opportunity, 
is so certain that Paul does not even pause to debate its 
reality. He at once dismisses a statement which calls in 
question this undoubted fact. 

(d) In spite of the truth that God can bring good out 
of evil, this result never relieves of guilt the one by whom 
the evil has been done. The end never justifies the means. 
If an act, out of which some good comes, is not to be re- 
garded as bad and is not to be punished, then any crime 
might be encouraged for the sake of a good result, and all 
real distinction between right and wrong would be obliter- 
ated. Even Paul’s statement of free grace was so “‘slander- 
ously reported”’ as to indicate that it encouraged men to 
sin in order that grace might abound; but here, as ever, 
Paul repudiated the charge. Of one who would say, “Let 
us do evil, that good may come,’’ Paul declares that his 
‘‘condemnation is just.”’ 


d. The Whole World Condemned. Ch. 3: 9-20 


9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for 
we before laid to the charge both of Jews and Greeks, that 
they are all under sin; 10 as it is written, 

There is none righteous, no, not one; 
11 There is none that understandeth, 
There is none that seeketh after God; 
12 They have all turned aside, they are together become 
unprofitable; 
There is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one: 
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; 
With their tongues they have used deceit: 
The poison of asps is under their lips: 
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways; 
17 And the way of peace have they not known: 
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. 

19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it 
speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth 
may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the 
judgment of God: 20 because by the works of the law shall 


48 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 3:9-20 


no flesh be justified in his sight; for through the law cometh 
the knowledge of sin. 


Here Paul reaches the first great conclusion of his 
epistle. The Gentile has sinned against the light of nature 
and conscience, the Jew in defiance of revealed law; there- 
fore the whole world is under condemnation. This con- 
clusion is so stated as to form likewise a climax to the 
charge against the Jew which Paul has just been making; 
for it is phrased in quotations found in the Jewish Scrip- 
tures, from which Paul assumes that there can be no ap- 
peal. 

The paragraph falls into three parts. The first states the 
conclusion that all are under sin. V. 9. The second 
enumerates the grounds of this judgment. Vs. 10-18. The 
third pronounces the sentence of universal condemnation. 
Vise hoe 20: 

“What then?” asks the apostle, in view of peculiar 
privileges, ‘‘are we better than they?’’ Are we morally 
superior? Are we more acceptable to God? ‘No, in no 
wise: for we before laid to the charge both of Jews and 
Greeks, that they are all under sin.”’ 

The Jew may have had certain outward advantages, 
but morally, as Paul now definitely affirms, Jews and 
Greeks are on the same level; all are under the guilt and 
power of sin. It is true that however men may differ 
among themselves as to individual character, as to out- 
ward circumstances, social or religious, when they appear 
at the bar of God, all are on equality, all are sinners, and 
as such, are deserving of punishment. 

The Scripture proof that all men are under sin and 
therefore are in need of the righteousness of God, is pre- 
sented in a picture Paul forms by grouping together pencil 
strokes made by the hands of various psalmists and 
prophets. It is an appalling picture of the human heart 
and of human weakness and sin, all the more terrible be- 
cause true of even the most privileged people of God. 

These quotations show first the character of sinful men, 
vs. 10-12, then their conduct in speech and action, vs. 
15-17, and lastly the cause or source of their sin, namely, 
that ‘‘there is no fear of God before their eyes,”’ v. 18. 


Rom, 3:9-20 JUSTIFICATION. BY FAITH 49 


First, then, as to the general state of mankind as under 
sin, Paul insists negatively that ‘there is none righteous, 
no, not one.” This total lack of righteousness is traced to 


the fact of an entire absence of moral intelligence: ‘‘there ~~ 


is none that understandeth.”’ With no real knowledge of 
God and of related duties it is impossible for one to be 
righteous. Then, further, ‘there is none that seeketh after 
God.”’ That is, there is no right affection, no desire or de- 
termination to worship God or to obey his will. 

As a result, viewed in its positive aspects, there is a 
general apostasy from truth and virtue: ‘they have all 
turned aside’; the demoralization and degradation are 
complete: ‘they are together become unprofitable,” that 
is to say, corrupt, useless, worthless. 

As a practical result, there is a total absence of goodness. 
It is so universal as to admit of not a solitary exception: 
‘there is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one.”’ 

The evil conduct of men is defined in the matter both 
of speech and of action. Paul mentions the throat, the 
tongue, the lips, the mouth. He declares “their throat is 
an open sepulchre”’; that is, their throat threatens destruc- 
tion. Itis death to some one whenever the mouth is opened. 
“With their tongues they have used deceit’’; that is, 
habitually and continually by flattering and smooth 
speaking they deceive and betray. ‘The poison of asps is 
under their lips’’; that is, the falsehood and calumny 
which evil lips give out is like the poison of an adder. 
‘Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 

This last expression, indicating violent speech, forms a 
fit introduction to Paul’s mention of conduct which is 
characterized by murder and oppression and fierce discord. 


‘““Their feet are swift to shed blood; 
Destruction and misery are in their ways; 
And the way of peace have they not known.” 


Vs. 15-17. 


The source of all this iniquity is traced by the apostle 
to the absence of all true piety, to the lack of reverence 
and respect for God: “There is no fear of God before their 


y) 


eyes. 


50 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 3:21-23 


In pronouncing the sentence of God upon such sinners, 
Paul answers first an imaginary objection made by the 
Jew to the contents of the last paragraph. He is supposed 
to say that the foregoing descriptions may apply to the 
heathen, but they cannot refer to Israel. Paul at once 
shows the absurdity of such a suggestion: ‘‘ Now we know 
that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them 
that are under the law.”’ That is, as Paul insists, the per- 
-sons to whom most obviously the Old Testament Scrip- 
tures must apply are the very persons for whom and by 
whom these Scriptures were written. They had a twofold 
design: First, to silence any who might endeavor to de- 
clare their innocence; and secondly, that the whole human 
race should be placed in a position of owing to God the 
penalty of transgression, ‘‘that every mouth may be 
stopped, and all the world may be brought under the 
judgment of God.” This is ‘‘ because by the works of the 
law shall no flesh be justified in his sight.” 

Such in its essence is the great conclusion toward which 
Paul has been moving through all the previous chapters. 
He wishes to show the universal need of a righteousness 
which God alone can provide, and to do so he shows that 
law in itself is not a means whereby a man can be made 
just. The law has a different function: “through the law 
cometh the knowledge of sin.’’ This is its true function. 
It was never designed to save men or to deliver them from 
the power of evil. Its purpose has ever been to reveal the 
actual sinfulness of men. It may have other purposes; it 
does indeed fulfill other offices; but it is utterly powerless 
to meet the needs of a lost world, or to deliver men from 
the slavery and the guilt of sin. Whether this law is con- 
tained in the Scriptures or whether it is written on the 
hearts of men, ‘‘by the works of the law shall no flesh be 
justified.” 

2. The Divine Method and Provision. Ch. 3 : 21-31 


21 But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath 
been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus 
Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction; 
23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; 


Rom. 3:24-31 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 51 


24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption 
that is in Christ Jesus: 25 whom God set forth to be a propi- 
tiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness 
because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in 
the forbearance of God; 26 for the showing, J say, of his 
righteousness at this present season: that he might himself 
be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus. 
27 Where then is the glorying? Itis excluded. By what man- 
ner of law? of works? Nay: but by a law of faith. 28 We 
reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from 
the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? 
is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yea, of Gentiles also: 
30 if so be that God is one, and he shall justify the circum- 
cision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. 

31 Do we then make the law of none effect through faith? 
God forbid: nay, we establish the law. 


How can a man be right with God? How can one who 
is guilty of sin be forgiven, pardoned, declared righteous, 
and regarded as though his sins had never been com- 
mitted? No more important question possibly could be 
asked, and in all the Bible probably there is no more 
complete and satisfying answer than in these words of 
Paul. He has recorded here the very essence of the gospel 
which he desired to preach at Rome, the very sum and 
substance of the good news which this epistle sets forth. 

One who wishes to know the very heart of the Christian 
message need ponder only these words; and one who reads 
them in the light of the Old Testament and the New can- 
not fail to be moved by their unique expression of the 
grace of God in Christ Jesus. 

Paul has been insisting that the whole world is in need 
of righteousness and is under the condemnation of God; 
here he declares that through the atoning work of Christ 
a righteousness has been provided, and is offered freely to 
all on the ground of faith alone. This righteousness is 
““manifest’’ in the gospel. It is ‘‘apart from the law’’; it 
is not secured by obeying the law; it is offered to those by 
whom the law has been broken; it is nothing which can 
be merited, earned, or deserved. However, it is in perfect 
accordance with the law, it is ‘‘witnessed by the law and 
the prophets,’’ as Paul demonstrates clearly in the next 


2 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 3:21-31 


chapter of this epistle. It is provided by God himself, for 
the “righteousness of God,’’ v. 22, here denotes not the 
attribute of divine’ justice but the righteousness which 
God offers to man. 

It is received by faith. In fact, faith is its distinguishing 
feature; it is not a righteousness by works, but a righteous- 
ness ‘‘through faith in Jesus Christ,” and it is “unto all 
them that believe.’’ Faith, however, is not a ground of 
merit, but merely the instrument by which this righteous- 
ness is received. 

This righteousness of God is of universal application, as 
it is needed by all, ‘‘for all have sinned, and fall short of 
the glory of God.’’ Paul does not mean that all have sinned 
equally, but all, without exception, have failed to attain 
the ‘‘glory,”’ the praise, the approbation of God, and are 
therefore under his condemnation. All such, however, if 
they put their trust in Christ are “declared to be just,”’ 
for here the word ‘‘justified,’’ v. 24, does not mean ‘‘ made 
righteous,’ but declared righteous. Paul is here describing 
‘“justification’’; sanctification will of course follow. Faith 
is certain to issue in a life of holiness. However, at once, 
before such a life has been lived, one who accepts Christ 
as a Saviour is declared to be righteous. 

This is due to no merit on the part of man. The source 
of this ‘‘justification”’ is the unmerited favor of God. 
Men are ‘‘justified freely by his grace.’ 

However, this gracious justifying act on the part of 
God is not due to any indifference to sin, nor to his failure 
to observe moral distinctions. God has made it possible 
at infinite cost. It is ‘through the redemption that is in 
Christ Jesus.’ This redemption, this deliverance from the 
guilt and power and penalty of sin was accomplished by 
the atoning death of Christ, ‘‘whom God set forth to be 
a propitiation, through faith, in his blood.”’ This propitia- 
tory death of Christ, however, was not intended to induce 
God to love sinners: ‘‘God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only begotten Son.” In this propitiatory sacrifice 
God revealed his own attitude toward sin and made it pos- 
sible for him to forgive sinners. 

The mystery of atonement Paul does not attempt to 


Romoe2t-of JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 53 


solve. He does not explain just how the death of Christ 
constitutes him a ‘“‘propitiation.’’ The fact, however, is at 
the very heart of the Christian gospel, and Paul does make 
it clear that the supreme element in propitiation is the 
vindicating of divine righteousness: ‘To show his right- 
eousness because of the passing over of the sins done afore- 
time, in the forbearance of God.”’ V. 25. Here the phrase, 
“righteousness of God,” denotes his attribute of justice. 
It was necessary for him to show his unchanging attitude 
towards sin. During past generations God appeared to 
deal lightly with transgressors; he seemed almost indif- 
ferent to their guilt. Occasionally he gave some signal 
manifestation of divine displeasure and inflicted some 
startling penalty, but he was long-suffering and gracious 
and allowed men living in sin to attain old age; even whole 
nations were permitted to continue for long periods openly 
violating his sacred laws. However, in the death of his 
own Son, God made it evident once and for all that he is 
not indifferent to sin. The cross is the vindication of his 
righteousness. However, it is much more. It is the means 
of salvation for man; for it is in view of the cross that 
God now, “‘at this present season,” can “himself be just, 
and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus.”” One 
who accepts the crucified Saviour as his Lord really sub- 
mits to the divine sentence upon sin; he becomes right with 
God. He is declared to be just; and God who thus justifies 
sinners is shown to be just. 

There are mysteries involved, but there is no doubt 
that as one gazes upon the cross of Christ, he feels the 
burden of guilt roll away, and he finds peace with God 
and power for a new and higher life. 

Paul has completed his superb statement of the great 
principle of justification by faith; however, as the chapter 
closes, vs. 27-31, he adds certain inferences by which the 
principle is commended and established. 

First, boasting is excluded. ‘“‘A law,’’ or divine ordi- 
nance, or spiritual institution, whereby a man rests for 
his salvation wholly upon the merits and work of Christ, 
must make it impossible for such a man to glory or to 
boast in the presence of God. Therefore, Paul concludes, 


54 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 4: 1-9 


“a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the 
law’’; his justification is entirely aside from any obedience 
to the law; it is by faith alone. As Paul elsewhere shows, 
faith will result in obedience, and justification will issue 
in holy living, but the truth that justification is by faith 
alone is the very heart of Christianity. It is rightly re- 
garded as “‘the article of a standing or falling Church.’ 

Secondly, by this “law”’ of justification, God is pre- 
sented in his true character. If some men are saved by a 
law of works and some by a law of faith, then there must 
be two Gods, an*idea absolutely abhorrent to the Jew. 
However, since there is but one God, ‘“‘the God of Jews,”’ 
who is ‘‘the God of Gentiles also,”’ therefore, there can be 
but one way of salvation, and the only possible method 
of justification must be by faith in Christ. 

Last of all, Paul raises the imaginary objection that 
justification by faith makes ‘“‘the law of none effect.’ It 
is said to obliterate all moral distinctions, to regard law 
as useless and worthless, to annul the divine ordinances 
recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures. On the con- 
trary, Paul states, by declaring this doctrine ‘we establish 
the law.’”’ He demonstrates this claim in various parts of 
the epistle, and first of all in the chapter which immedi- 
ately follows. 


3. The Proof from Scripture. Ch. 4 


1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, 
hath found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was 
justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not toward 
God. 3 For what saith the scripture? And Abraham believed 
God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. 4 Now 
to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, 
but as of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth 
on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned 
for righteousness. 6 Even as David also pronounceth blessing 
upon the man, unto whom God reckoneth righteousness 
apart from works, 7 saying, 

Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, 

And whose sins are covered. 
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin. 
9 Is this blessing then pronounced upon the circumcision, 
or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say, To Abraham 


Rom. 4:10-25 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH me, 


his faith was reckoned for righteousness. 10 How then was it 
reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? 
Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision: 11 and he 
received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness 
of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision: 
that he might be the father of all them that believe, though 
they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might be 
reckoned unto them; 12 and the father of circumcision to 
them who not only are of the circumcision, but who also 
walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which 
he had in uncircumcision. 13 For not through the law was 
the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be 
heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith. 
14 For if they that are of the law are heirs, faith is made 
void, and the promise is made of none effect: 15 for the 
law worketh wrath; but where there is no law, neither is 
there transgression. 16 For this cause i¢ is of faith, that it 
may be according to grace; to the end that the promise 
may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the 
law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is 
the father of us all 17 (as it is written, A father of many 
nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, 
even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the 
things that are not, as though they were. 18 Who in hope 
believed against hope, to the end that he might become a 
father of many nations, according to that which had been 
spoken, So shall thy seed be. 19 And without being weakened 
in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead 
(he being about A hundred years old), and the deadness of 
Sarah’s womb;//20 yet, looking unto the promise of God, 
he wavered not Ahrough unbelief, but waxed strong through 
faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that 
what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 
Wherefore also it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. 
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was 
reckoned unto him; 24 but for our sake also, unto whom it 
shall be reckoned, who believe on him that raised Jesus our 
Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up for our tres- 
passes, and was raised for our justification. 


When Paul has clearly defined the doctrine of justifica- 
tion by faith, he naturally turns for the confirmation of 
its truth to the Old Testament. He still has in mind the 
Jew who is supposed to feel that this doctrine sets aside 
the inspired Scriptures. In these Scriptures, on the con- 


56 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS  Rom., ch. 4 


trary, Paul finds the most unanswerable evidence that his 
teaching is true. He selects the crucial case of Abraham, 
the father of the Jewish race, the most impressive and 
important figure who appears upon the stage of human 
history between Adam and Christ. 

a. The case of Abraham is decisive, at least to the mind 
of the Jew, because he towered above all other men in his 
moral grandeur, and if anyone was accepted of God, it 
must have been he, for he was known as the ‘‘friend of 
God.”’ If he was not justified by works, no man could be; 
if he was justified by faith, there can be no other way of 
justification for any man. Vs. 1-8. ‘‘What then shall we 
say that Abraham, our forefather, hath found according 
to the flesh?’’ The last clause refers to the human nature 
which he shared with all men. The question then is, what 
did Abraham attain through his own natural efforts? 
How was he justified? Was it on the ground of his illustri- 
ous acts? These gave him a place of honor among men, 
but did they secure his justification and thus give him a 
ground of boasting before God? ‘‘What saith the scrip- 
ture? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned 
unto him for righteousness.’ Nothing is said here about 
works; it is his faith, his trust and confidence in God, 
which is ‘“‘reckoned,’’ imputed, accounted unto him as 
righteousness. Abraham, therefore, did not earn righteous- 
ness; he received it as a free gift. A laborer who works for 
pay can claim his wages as a debt that is due; but such was 
not the case with the old patriarch; and4uch is never the 
case when a man is justified by God. \M is to one who has 
no confidence in his own works, but trusts in a God who 
justifies freely, and actually does pronounce righteous an 
ungodly man—it is to such a one that ‘‘faith is reckoned 
for righteousness.” V. 5. 

To this great truth David likewise testifies in the Thirty- 
second Psalm when he says: 


‘Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, 

And whose sins are covered. 

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not 
reckon sin.”’ 


* 


“ 


Rome c+ |USPIFICATION’ BY FAITH 5/ 


The psalmist thus pronounces happy, not one who has 
kept the law, not one who is being rewarded for his good 
‘“works,’’ but one who has broken the law and who, as he 
has turned toward God in penitence and trust, has been 
forgiven and declared to be just. Nothing could be more 
clear, nothing more startling, yet nothing more comforting, 
than the truth that when we are conscious of our sins and 
turn to God in the name of Christ, trusting in his redeem- 
ing grace, we are pardoned and justified and can know 
the joy of salvation. 

b. That justification is possible for all Paul next de- 
clares when he shows how it is as independent of religious 
ceremonies or of special privileges as it is of boasted deeds 
of the law. Justification is by faith alone, although the 
experience inevitably results in holy living; so too, faith 
naturally is expressed in religious rites; but before these, 
and aside from these, God justifies those who believe in 
Jesus. Vs. 9-11. 

This is what Paul means by asking whether justification 
was granted to those alone who had received the sacra- 
mental seal of circumcision, or to all who trusted in God 
and accepted his promises of grace. That righteousness was 
independent, and preceded any such external rite, was 
evident from the case of Abraham, for he was justified 
before he received this seal. 

Paul takes us back to that night when the aged patri- 
arch, standing childless and alone under the Syrian sky, 
received from the Lord the promise that his seed should 
become as the stars of the sky in multitude. Then it was, 
we are told, that he ‘‘ believed God, and it was reckoned 
unto him for righteousness.” It was years after that 
Abraham received circumcision as a seal of the covenant 
promise of God. Justification, then, preceded and was 
quite independent of circumcision, yet the latter became 
‘“‘a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had 
while he was in uncircumcision,”’ v. 11. 

Therefore, Abraham became, in the spiritual realm, 
“the father of all them that believe,’’ whether Jews or 
Gentiles, and his own experience became a proof that 
men are justified independently of all ceremonies and 


58 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS: “Romi chee 


rites. The latter may be regarded as seals by which cov- 
enants are confirmed; they may be signs and symbols of 
benefits conferred, but in themselves they are powerless, 
and their efficacy is dependent upon the faith of the 
recipient and the grace of God the Giver. The real descend- 
ants of Abraham, therefore, are not those literal Israelites 
who are lineal descendants of Abraham, nor yet are they 
those who imitate his acceptance of ceremonial rites, but 
those who emulate and share his faith. To them as to him, 
faith is ‘‘reckoned”’ ‘‘for righteousness.” 

c. This righteousness is independent of law and is re- 
ceived by faith alone; in the case of Abraham, faith evi- 
dently was the acceptance of a promise and not obedience 
to law. It was, however, vital and unquestioning, and it 
accepted as certain what reason might have ridiculed or 
denied. Vs. 13-22. 

The promise to Abraham, in its ultimate scope, was 
“that he should be heir of the world.’ The fulfillment of 
this promise was to be realized through Christ and his 
followers. In a true sense they yet are to “inherit the 
earth.”’ Yet for Abraham this hope was not conditioned 
upon the fulfillment of law, but upon a righteousness 
which resulted from faith. V. 13. 

“Faith” and “‘promise’’ belong to a different domain 
from that of ‘“‘law.’’ The latter would exclude the former, 
and make them of no effect. The real effect of law is to 
bring condemnation. Where “there is no law,” there may 
be fault and sin, but not “transgression’’; that is, no 
actual breach of law, which is to say that “law,” instead 
of bringing blessing, has no power but that of increasing 
guilt and of making men liable to the ‘“‘wrath of God.” 
Vs. 14, 15. 

For this reason it was the plan of God to condition his 
great blessings not upon obedience to law but upon faith, 
for faith as exercised by man implies “‘grace”’ on the part 
of God; and such a system made the fulfillment of the 
promise possible, not only to those who had the Mosaic 
law, but to all persons who, by their faith in God, are true 
children of Abraham. Thus, as Christian believers, we can 
claim that Abraham is ‘‘the father of us all,’’ and can share 


Rom., chia JUSTIFICATION BY, FAITH 59 


in all the blessedness promised to him when God called 
him ‘‘a father of many nations.” Vs. 16, 17. 

Possibly this reasoning of Paul seems somewhat diff- 
cult to follow; but its great essential teaching is clear and 
is full of comfort for every reader, for it gives assurance 
that, through faith alone, may be received all the blessed 
promises of God, for eternity as well as for time. 

The faith of Abraham was extraordinary in the extreme. 
It was, however, centered upon God, “who giveth life to 
the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though 
they were.”’ V. 17. In such a God he evidently trusted, 
for when he received the promise he was as good as dead 
and his heart no longer cherished the hope of an heir. Yet, 
contrary to all human probability that the promise could 
be fulfilled, and fully conscious of all the apparent impas- 
sibilities involved, he praised God for the miracle whith 
was to be performed, “being fully assured that what he 
had promised he was able also to perform.” It was 
through such faith that Abraham became ‘‘a father of 
many nations’’; it was such faith that God graciously 
“reckoned unto him for righteousness,’”’ v. 22. 

Such faith, indeed, was extraordinary, but its essence 
was quite plain. It consisted in taking God at his word, 
in believing that what he said was true, in trusting that 
what God promised he would bring to pass. Nor does our 
faith differ from this in kind. God does not expect us to 
believe what is irrational, but he promises blessings that 
we cannot explain, which will be granted by methods we 
cannot understand. We are conscious of unworthiness and 
fault, but he promises to pardon, cleanse, relieve; we come 
with simple faith in the power of Christ and find forgive- 
ness, peace, and rest. He promises us resurrection and 
endless glory and by faith we die with hopes reaching be- 
yond the grave. 

d. It is indeed in the sphere of death and resurrection 
that the thoughts revolve all through these paragraphs, 
and particularly as we reach the great application of the 
story with which the chapter closes, vs. 23-25. All this 
narrative, Paul declares, ‘‘was not written for his sake 
alone,” simply to record that Abraham was justified by 


60 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 5:1-5 


faith, ‘‘but for our sake also,’’ to assure us that we, too, 
receive a similar acceptance if we have a like faith. The 
promise to Abraham was practically that of life from the 
dead. As Christians we trust the same God who also 
“raised Jesus our Lord from the dead” and conditions 
our pardon and acceptance and righteousness upon our 
faith in him ‘‘who was delivered up for our trespasses, 
and was raised for our justification.’’ The death and resur- 
rection of Christ are inseparably united as the ground of 
our salvation; yet they can be distinguished in their pur- 
pose and effect. Looking at them separately it is possible 
that Paul here means that Christ died to atone for our 
sins and rose again with a view to securing our justification. 
As, however, the word ‘“‘for’’ should probably be inter- 
preted in the same sense in both clauses, the more exact 
meaning may be that Christ who was surrendered to death 
because of the offenses we had committed, was raised to 
life because of the acquittal he had secured for us. What- 
ever the exact translation may be, it is clear that the 
resurrection was “‘the crown and seal to the atonement 
wrought by his death,”’ and that it evokes the faith which 
makes his atoning work effectual for believers. In any 
case, the inspiring truth is taught that our justification is 
secured by the death and resurrection of our Lord, and if 
this is its ground, then surely in such a plan of salvation 
there can be no place for pride or self-reliance or human 
merit, but only for humble, confident, grateful faith. As 
the whole chapter has therefore shown, the Old Testament 
Scriptures agree with the New in assuring us that faith 
alone is the way by which men can be justified in the 


sight of God. 
| 4. The Blessed Results. Ch. 5: 1-11 


1 Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ; 2 through whom also 
we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we 
stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not 
only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that 
tribulation worketh stedfastness; 4 and stedfastness, ap- 
provedness; and approvedness, hope: 5 and hope putteth 
not to shame; because the love of God hath been shed 


Rom. 5:6-11 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 61 


abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was 
given unto us. 6 For while we were yet weak, in due season 
Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous 
man will one die: for peradventure for the good man some 
one would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his own 
love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ 
died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his 
blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through 
him. 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled 
to God through the death of his Son, much more, being rec- 
onciled, shall we be saved by his life; 11 and not only so, 
but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 
through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 


Paul has already exhibited the need, the exact nature, 
and the Scriptural proof of the doctrine of “justification by 
faith.’”’ He now presents some of its blessed consequences. 
It is true that practically the whole remaining portion 
of the epistle unfolds the new life of holiness and happi- 
ness which issues from justification. Here, however, the 
stress is laid upon the acceptance with God which the 
justified enjoy, and upon their certainty of sharing his 
eternal glory. In fact this certainty of salvation is the 
essential burden of this passage, vs. 1-11. The questions 
might naturally arise as to whether the trials and tribula- 
tions incident to the life of a Christian may not cause 
faith to fail, and whether believers may not be swept away 
from their position of acceptance with God. Paul here 
gives the assurance that justification by faith is permanent 
and is sure to issue in blessedness which is eternal. 

a. First of all, then, is the assurance that ‘‘ being there- 
fore justified by faith, we have peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ.’’ When Paul speaks here of “‘ peace 
with God,” his phrase is not equivalent to ‘‘ peace from 
God,” or to ‘‘the peace of God.” The latter may denote 
the peace which God himself enjoys, or the peace which 
he inspires in the hearts of his children. But ‘peace with 
God”’ denotes a relation to him. It indicates pardon and 
acceptance and is contrasted with enmity or wrath. It 
signifies the position of those who once were under con- 
demnation but now are enjoying the full measure of divine 
forgiveness and favor. It is a relation with God which 


62 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 5:1-11 


results from the atoning work of Christ, and in conse- 
quence of this relation a peace which is not born of earth 
enters the souls of the justified, a peace which God supplies, 
a peace in some measure like to that which the ‘‘God of 
peace’’ himself enjoys. 

b. It is through Christ also that ‘‘we have had our 
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.”’ As our 
peace with God is grounded on the atoning death of 
Christ, so it is by the power of the living Christ that we 
are brought into the atmosphere and position of conscious 
peace and acceptance with God. ‘‘This grace wherein we 
stand” is more fully described in the eighth chapter of this 
same epistle; and there it is pictured as the position of 
sons who live in fellowship with God, who are not merely 
forgiven enemies or pardoned sinners, but children who 
have received “the spirit of adoption’’ whereby they cry 
‘Abba, Father.’’ It is Christ who has given us such 
““access’’ to God, such an ‘‘introduction”’ as persons of 
note are given into the presence chamber of a king. Only 
those who are conscious of being justified can really enjoy 
that true fellowship with God- which 3 is made possible by 
Jesus Christ our Lord. 

c. It is, however, not peace with Christ, nor the position 
of sons, but the prospect of glory which forms the chief 
element of that blessedness of justified souls here set forth: 
‘““we rejoice in hope of the glory of God,” v. 2. As Paul 
argues more fully in the eighth chapter of the epistle, “if 
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be 
also glorified with him.’’ To share such heavenly splendor, 
to behold the King in his beauty, to be like him when we 
see him as he is, all this is the inspiring hope of those who 
have been justified by faith in Christ. Nor is this hope 
dimmed—it rather is brightened—by the distress and 
trials which now encompass us. The secret lies in the 
purpose and results of these very persecutions and trials, 
so that “we also rejoice in our tribulations,” knowing 
that these tribulations result in stead{astness, in approved- 
ness, or tried integrity, and this in turn issues in a stronger 
and clearer hope. Thus the very tribulations becca a 


Romuo-d-11 7 JUSTIFICATION, BY FAITH 63 


ground and a source of strength for that confident expec- 
tation of glory which belongs to the justified. 

And this “hope putteth not to shame,” it does not de- 
ceive, it does not mock us, it is not disappointed, and for 
two reasons. First, ‘because the love of God hath been 
shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which 
was given unto us.” This is the first mention in the letter 
of the Spirit; in the eighth chapter are found some of the 
most significant statements in reference to his work which 
the Bible contains. This first mention reminds us that his 
power and influence make us conscious and certain of the 
love which God has toward us., 

There is, however, a ground of hope outside ourselves, 
and this is found in a historic fact, in that supreme fact, 
namely, the atoning death of Christ: ‘For while we were 
yet weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly,”’ v. 6. 
Sin is here called weakness. As sinners we are pictured as 
suffering from moral infirmity and as in need of healing 
and of strength. It was for us that Christ died ‘‘in due 
season,’ or, as Paul says elsewhere, “‘When the fulness of 
the time came,” to meet the great crisis which sin had 
produced. 

Here Paul states that ‘“‘Christ died for the ungodly.” 
We had expected him to say that he died for us, but the 
substitution of this word brings out all the more clearly 
the thought of the great love of God in sending his son to 
die for the undeserving. This is emphasized in the verses 
which follow, where, in contrast with the love of man for 
man, we have the demonstration of the love of God 
toward us. Paul intimates that while it might be possible 
that one would not die for a righteous man, yet for a “‘ good 
man,’ a loving, a deserving man, ‘“‘some one would even 
dare to die.’”’ This possible manifestation of human love, 
however, is far surpassed by the love of God who “‘com- 
mendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were 
yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 

The argument which Paul advances is this: If God so 
loved us while we were yet sinners, “‘much more then, 
being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from 
the wrath of God through him.” If God has done so 


64 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 5:12-21 


much for his enemies, what will he not do for his friends? 
‘For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God 
through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, 
shall we be saved. by his life.” It is evident that our 
eternal salvation is secure and certain. The God who made 
possible for us justification through the death of his Son, 
will undoubtedly grant us eternal blessedness as we share 
now in the life of the risen Christ. 

No wonder, then, that Paul closes the paragraph with 
the assurance that we who are justified have triumphant 
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom 
we have now received reconciliation. Such peace with 
God, such access to a loving Father, such unclouded hope 
of glory, are the sure and inevitable blessings of all who are 
justified by faith. 


5. The Universal Application. Ch. 5: 12-21 


12 Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the 
world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all 
men, for that all sinned:—13/for until the law sin was in 
the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even 
over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam’s 
transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come. 
15 But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by 
the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the 
grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, 
Jesus Christ, abound unto the many. 16 And not as through 
one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment came of one 
unto condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses 
unto justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one, 
death reigned through the one; much more shall they that 
receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness 
reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ. 18 So then 
as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men 
to condemnation; even so through one act of righteousness 
the free gift came unto all men to justification of life. 19 For 
as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made 
sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the 
many be made righteous. 20’And the law came in besides, 
that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, 
grace did abound more exceedingly: 21 that, as sin reigned 


Bhomiovi2-21 “JUSTIFICATION BY*‘FAITH 65 


in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness 
unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 


The analogy drawn by Paul between Adam and Christ 
is judged to be one of the most difficult and complex pas- 
sages of the epistle. By some readers it is regarded as a 
parenthesis or break in the argument. By others, how- 
ever, probably more correctly, it is looked upon as a 
climax to the discussion of the doctrine of justification by 
faith and as an introduction to the treatment of the 
doctrine of sanctification, or of the life of holiness in which 
justification issues. 


It does, indeed, confirm the doctrine of justification by 
faith by showing that the same principles of divine govern- 
ment are involved in justifying those who are united to 
Christ by faith as in condemning those who share the 
nature and sin of Adam. On the other hand, by advancing 
from the truth of justification by faith in Christ to that of 
vital union with Christ, the ground is laid for the teaching 
which follows as to the sanctification and final glory of 
believers. Chs. 6 to 8. 


Possibly the most important relation which this famous 
analogy sustains to the foregoing argument is in showing 
the wide application of justification; as the paragraph im- 
mediately preceding reveals its permanence, vs. 1-11, this 
paragraph declares its universality, vs. 12-21. The sum of 
the message is simply this: As the sin of Adam brought 
sin and death to all mankind, so the redeeming work of 
Christ brings righteousness and life to all who are united 
to him by a living faith. 

The analogy involves not only such a comparison, vs. 
1213, 19) but also certain contrasts, vs:.15, 16, 17. The 
comparison begins with a statement of the universal reign 
of sin and death due to the sin of Adam: ‘‘ Therefore, as 
through one man sin entered into the world, and death 
through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all 
sinned.’’ The specific sin to which Paul here refers is un- 
questionably that act of disobedience on the part of Adam 
commonly designated as ‘“‘the fall,’ and believed to be, 
as here intimated, the source of all human sinfulness and 


66 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 5:12-21 


misery and death. By the last term, Paul evidently meant 
physical death, although it indicates all the misery and 
distress of which the death of the body is the symbol, in- 
cluding ultimately that separation from God which is the 
final penalty of sin. The penalty, Paul declares, has been 
visited on the whole human race in virtue of the fact “that 
all sinned.’’ This last statement is commonly interpreted 
to mean that the guilt of Adam has been imputed to his 
descendants. It more probably refers to the actual guilt 
which men incur because of that tendency to evil which 
they inherit, which is believed to be a result of the dis- 
obedience of Adam. It is probably to be interpreted as a 
simple statement of the universal prevalence of sin, and 
of death which is its penalty, in order that Paul may com- 
pare with it the wide influence of the saving work of Christ.) 

Before completing this comparison, Paul pauses to 
demonstrate the fact that sin is universal. He does so by 
stating that ‘until the law sin was in the world.” This 
sin, however, was not in the nature of actual disobedience 
to a command as in the case of Adam, or of his descendants 
who received the law of Moses. Nevertheless, between 
Adam and Moses there was real sin; because death reigned 
like a cruel tyrant, all were subject to his power. There 
must, therefore, have been disobedience to law, not the 
law of Moses but the law written on the human heart. 
This universal sin could be traced as an effect ‘‘of Adam’s 
transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come.”’ 
This universal result of Adam’s sin is about to be compared 
with the salvation accomplished by Christ, but Paul first 
pauses to mention three contrasts between the work of the 
first and the last Adam. There is a contrast in quality: the 
one is all of sin, the other of bounty and of grace. “But 
not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the 
trespass of the one the many died, much more did the 
grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, 
Jesus Christ, abound unto the many.” 

So, too, there is a contrast in the quantity or the mode 
of working. In the case of Adam, the sentence pronounced 
was due to the act of a single man and had as its result a 
sweeping verdict of condemnation; but in the case of 


Rom, ortiz JUSTIFICATION’ BY FAITH 67 


Christ, his work had its rise in many faults and its result 
in a declaration of pardon and righteousness: ‘‘And not 
as through one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment 
came of one unto condemnation, but the free gift came of 
many trespasses unto justification.” 

There was a third contrast: there was a difference in the 
whole character and consequence of the work of Adam 
and of Christ. Through the fault of one man, death, 
through that sole agency, began to reign as a cruel tyrant. 
On the other hand, those who receive the gift of righteous- 
ness shall reign in life through the power of Christ, ‘ For 
if, by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the 
one; much more shall they that receive the abundance of 
grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through 
the one, even Jesus Christ.”’ 

When at last Paul comes to complete his great compari- 
son and to show that the wide effect of the sin of Adam 
has its parallel in the universal benefit accruing to all who 
put their trust in Christ, he does so by showing that as 
one act of disobedience resulted in bringing all men under 
condemnation, so ‘“‘one act of righteousness,’’ namely, the 
voluntary death of Christ for the sins of the world, brings 
justification to all who put their trust in him. “So then 
as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men 
to condemnation; even so through one act of righteousness 
the free gift came unto all men to justification of life.’’ 
Then, to sum up his entire analogy, Paul concludes, “ For 
as through the one man’s disobedience the many were 
made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one 
shall the many be made righteous.”’ 

It remains only for the apostle to show the true function 
of the law. He has stated that, even between Adam and 
Moses, sin and death had reigned supreme. In the earlier 
portion of his epistle he has shown that the law was unable 
to secure justification for men. What, then, was its prov- 
ince? Paul here declares that it ‘‘came in besides, that the 
trespass might abound.” Instead of relieving men from 
the guilt of sin, it actually led to the multiplication of sins. 
But through the work of Christ a glorious result was 
achieved: ‘where sin abounded, grace did abound more 


68 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 5:12-21_ 


exceedingly.’’ Until the coming of Christ, sin ruled in the 
realm of death like a pitiless monarch; but since the re- 
deeming work of our Lord, grace has been enthroned and 
given sway over the followers of Christ, so that they may 
be delivered from death and made heirs of eternal life, 
vs. 20, 21. Thus Paul not only shows the wide application 
of the justifying grace of God, but also indicates what in 
the next chapter he proceeds to develop, namely, that its 
issue is life in its largest and truest aspects, both for time 
and for eternity. 

This is one of the most intricate and perplexing para- 
graphs in the Bible, and therefore its interpretation de- 
mands both humility and charity. Unfortunately, it has 
been for centuries the battlefield of theological controversy. 
Its statements are so profound and its implications are so 
wide that all readers should not expect to agree upon 
their meaning. The main message, however, is clear. It 
is intended to show the gracious provision which God has 
made for a race which has fallen wholly under the domi- 
nance of sin and of death, a provision of righteousness and 
of eternal life made possible through the atoning work and 
divine power of Jesus Christ our Lord. 


Rom. 6:1-14 THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVERS 69 


Be vibe OF THE BREEIBVERS. Chs: oto 
1. Dead to Sin and Alive Unto God. Ch. 6: 1-14 


1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that 
grace may abound? 2 God forbid. We who died to sin, how 
shall we any longer live therein? 3 Or are ye ignorant that 
all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized 
into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him through 
baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the 
dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk 
in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with 
him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the like- 
ness of his resurrection; 6 knowing this, that our old man 
was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done 
away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin; 
7 for he that hath died is justified from sin. 8 But if we died 
with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him; 
9 knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no 
more; death no more hath dominion over him. 10 For the 
death that he died, he died unto sin once: but the life that 
he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Even so reckon ye also 
yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ 
Jesus. 

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye 
should obey the lusts thereof: 13 neither present your 
members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but 
present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and 
your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not 
under law, but under grace. 


The doctrine of justification by faith always has been 
exposed to misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and 
abuse. Therefore, when Paul has completed his exposition 
of the doctrine, it is natural that he should state and 
answer three most familiar objections offered by its op- 
ponents. The first is that such a method of declaring men 
just, encourages sin, ch. 6: 1-14; the second, that it allows 
Sinyechs. 0: 15'to ./: 6: and the third, that it makes law. a 
sinful or an evil thing, ch. 7: 7-45. 


70 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 6:1-14 


The common fallacy in all these objections, and in most 
criticisms of the doctrine of justification by faith, consists 
in the failure to understand what is meant by faith. If 
faith denotes mere assent to dogmas or the repetition of a 
creed, then to accept one as righteous, in view of his faith, 
would be absurd and unjust; but faith describes a personal 
relation to Christ. For a believer, it means trust in Christ, 
obedience to Christ, love for Christ; and such trust and 
obedience and love inevitably result in purity and holiness 
and a life of unselfish service. Justification by faith cannot 
encourage sin, nor allow sin, nor discredit the law of God. 
It must result rather in righteousness and true obedience. 
Justification, therefore, issues in sanctification. The two 
may be separated in thought, but they are united in ex- 
perience. For one who is justified by faith, there begins 
at the same time a new life of holiness. Of this new life 
Paul treats in this and the two following chapters, chs. 
6 to 8. 

First of all, then, Paul notices the objection that justi- 
fication by faith encourages sin: ‘‘ What shall we say then? 
Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?”’ ch. 6: 1. 
Paul has been saying that the giving of the law resulted in 
definite transgressions and in the increase of guilt, but that 
these were met by God’s gracious justification, so that 
‘where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly.”’ 
Shall we say, then, that such justifying grace encourages 
sin? If God forgives freely, and by such forgiveness mag- 
nifies his grace, shall we not sin more continually that thus 
his grace may abound? 

Paul at once repudiates the suggestion: ‘‘God forbid.”’ 
Then he shows that such an intimation is contrary to ex- 
perience and to reason: ‘‘We who died to sin, how shall we 
any longer live therein?’’ We Christians by our confession 
and by our faith are identified with Christ. This vital union 
with him is such that we experience in the moral sphere 
all that he experienced in the physical, when he died and 
was buried and rose again. If we are united with him who 
died for our sins, we are understood to have “died to sin.”’ 
We are supposed to be blind to its enticements, to be deat 
to its commands, to be insensible to its power. 


homeo.d-14. DHE LIFE OF THE BEBIEVERS aa 


Paul makes the truth more plain by a reference to 
Christian baptism: ‘Or are ye ignorant that all we who 
were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his 
death? we were buried therefore with him through baptism 
unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead 
through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in 
newness of life.’’ These figures of speech are commonly 
taken as referring to immersion. This mode of baptism 
quite possibly may have been in the apostle’s mind. How- 
ever, such a reference should not prove that immersion 
is the only valid mode of baptism. The New Testament 
and the practice of the Early Church both indicate that 
baptism was administered by pouring (affusion) or by 
sprinkling, as well as by immersion. 

Nor is the mode of baptism the important feature in 
this reference. Paul here emphasizes not the rite or 
ceremony but the profession and the faith which accom- 
pany baptism, which alone give to it significance and 
meaning. According to this profession and in virtue of 
this faith, we Christians who have submitted to this rite 
have ended the old life of sin. As far as sin is concerned 
we are dead and buried, and ‘‘as Christ was raised from 
the dead”’ through the glorious power of God, so by the 
power of the risen Christ we should experience and should 
show a life of new virtue and holiness. ‘For if we have 
become united with him in the likeness of his death, we 
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Paul 
further enlarges upon the idea of death to sin by reminding 
us that as Christians ‘‘our old man was crucified”? with 
Christ. That is to say, our old dispositions and appetites 
and evil desires have been put to death. These are pictured 
as a ‘“‘body of sin’’ which was put to death on the cross 
with Christ. Sin is described as the slave master who was 
in control of our former life; but since we died to sin, we 
are now declared to be liberated from this bondage. 

The Christian life, however, is not merely negative. It 
does not consist simply in freedom from sin. It is a new 
and risen life, lived by the power of the risen Christ. 
Therefore, Paul declares, ‘‘If we died with Christ, we be- 
lieve that we shall also live with him.” As he died once for 


i DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 6:15-18 


all and now lives unto God, we, too, are regarded as hav- 
ing died to sin once for all that henceforth and forever we 
may live in obedience to God. This is what the apostle 
means by his exhortation, “Even so reckon ye also your- 
selves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ 
Jesus.”” So we are to regard ourselves. We are not to 
imagine, however, for a moment that in reality such a 
death has taken place. Our evil passions and dispositions 
are still active and powerful. We must, however, disown 
their rule. We must trust in Christ for strength. The life 
of a Christian need not be one merely of ceaseless conflict; 
it should be a life of ever more continuous victory. 

This is the truth which Paul has in mind as he gives his 
closing exhortation. He urges us to make more real in 
our experience the ideal state which he has been describ- 
ing. He urges us to disown the reign of sin, to refuse to 
obey its evil desires, not to offer our bodies as instruments 
of unrighteousness but, as belonging to those who have 
risen from the dead, to present our ‘‘members as instru- 
ments of righteousness unto God.”’ The reason which he 
assigns for such an exhortation is that as believers in 
Christ, joined to him in a vital union, sin shall not have 
dominion over us, for, the apostle declares, ‘“we are not 
under law, but under grace.’’ Law, as Paul will proceed 
to show, has in itself no power to deliver. It rather be- 
comes an incentive to sin, and it increases guilt. Grace, 
however, is sufficient for all our needs, and that method 
of justification which is by faith and issues from grace 
results in an experience which can be truly designated as 
dead to sin and alive unto God. 


2. Free from Sin and Servants of Righteousness. Ch. 6 : 15-23 


15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under law, © 
but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom 
ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his ser- 
vants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of 
obedience unto righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, 
that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient 
from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were 
delivered; 18 and being made free from sin, ye became 


Rom. 6:19-23 THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVERS 73 


servants to righteousness. 19 I speak after the manner of 
men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye pre- 
sented your members as servants to uncleanness and to 
iniquity unto iniquity, even so now present your members 
as servants to righteousness unto sanctification. 20 For 
when ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of 
righteousness. 21 What fruit then had ye at that time in 
the things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those 
things is death. 22 But now being made free from sin and 
become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctifi- 
cation, and the end eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin 
is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ 
Jesus our Lord. 


Every soul must know something of the degrading, mys- 
terious slavery of sin. It is felt to be at once a fault anda 
misfortune. One voluntarily yields to the voice of. evil, 
and at the same time finds himself unable to refuse. De- 
liverance comes through faith in Christ whose service is 
true freedom. Such is the message of Paul as he here 
describes true Christians as free from sin and servants of 
righteousness. 

He is answering a second supposed objection to the 
doctrine of justification by faith, namely, that it allows 
sin. The first objection was that if justification is due to 
the grace of God and not to the merit of man, it really 
encourages sin, for the greater the sin, the greater would 
be the manifestation of divine grace, ch. 6:1. This second 
objection, however, is somewhat different. It proposes the 
difficulty that if one is justified who has not kept the law, 
then one must be free to break the law. ‘‘ What then? shall 
we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace?”’ 
ch. 6:15. Paul at once indignantly rejects the suggestion. 
‘God forbid,” he exclaims, and he proceeds to show that 
faith in Christ does not make one free to sin, but free from 
sin: ““Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves 
as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye 
obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto 
righteousness?”’ To yield obedience and service to any per- 
son is to become a slave of that person, and as no one really 
can serve two masters, either he is a slave of sin, a slavery 


74 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 6:15-23 


resulting in death, or he is a servant of Christ, a service 
which results in righteousness. 

Paul thanks God, however, that his readers who once 
were servants of sin have yielded themselves to Christ 
and are giving hearty obedience to that standard of life 
and conduct in which they were instructed as Christian 
converts, so that ‘‘being made free from sin” they have 
become ‘‘servants of righteousness,’’ vs. 17, 18. Paul ex- 
plains that in thus speaking of slavery he is using a figure 
of speech taken from familiar human relations, and that 
he employs so unpleasant a metaphor because he wishes 
to make plain to the defective spiritual apprehension of 
his readers their true relation to sin and to righteousness, 
and to exhort them to make real in their experience all 
that they profess as followers of Christ and all that is pos- 
sible for them through the grace of God. 

If indeed they have been justified, if their faith is real, 
if they truly belong to Christ, there must be no divided 
allegiance. As they formetly devoted themselves to the 
service of moral defilement and increasing lawlessness, so 
now they must devote the members of their bodies to the 
service of righteousness, so to become more and more truly 
consecrated to God. 

Paul is the more earnest in his ab weratiga, | in view of 
their previous service of sin and its pitiful results in con- 
trast with the possibilities of their present service of Christ. 

When servants of sin they had been “‘free in regard of 
righteousness,’ not that righteousness had no claims upon 
them, but that they had been heedless of its demands. 
The results had been such as are remembered only with 
deepest shame, and such as could result only in death. 

By way of contrast, however, Paul encourages his read- 
ers by the assurance that ‘‘now being made free from sin 
and become servants to God,” they can put forth activi- 
ties which will result in a progressive state of increasing 
holiness which will have its ultimate issue in eternal life. 
Vs. 21, 22. Paul enforces his exhortation and his encour- 
agement by the solemn statement and blessed assurance: 
‘For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is 
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”’ Sin is still repre- 


Rom. 7:1-6 THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVERS 75 


sented here as a cruel slave master who repays those under 
his power only with death. Such wages are earned; death 
is deserved bv the servants of sin. It required no inspired 
apostle to make this statement. It is attested by every 
human conscience and by the universal experience of men. 
Sooner or later in the heart of every sinner there reéchoes 
the sad refrain, ‘‘ The wages of sin is death.” 

However, ‘the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ 
Jesus our Lord.’ This phrase which closes the chapter 
comes like a revelation from above. ‘Eternal life’’ is 
offered to all. It is not described by the term ‘wages.’’ 
It cannot be earned. It can be received only as “the free 
gift of God.” It is for all those who put their trust in 
Christ, who are united with him by faith, who in reality 
are “in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 


3. Free from Law and United with Christ. Ch. 7: 1-6 


1 Or are ye ignorant, brethren (for I speak to men who 
know the law), that the law hath dominion over a man for 
so long a time as he liveth? 2 For the woman that hath a 
husband is bound by law to the husband while he liveth; 
but if the husband die, she is discharged from the law of the 
husband. 3 So then if, while the husband liveth, she be 
joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: 
but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that she 
is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man. 4 
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law 
through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to 
another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we 
might bring forth fruit unto God. 5 For when we were in 
the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, 
wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 
6 But now we have been discharged from the law, having 
died to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in 
newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter. 


Paul is still defending the doctrine of justification by 
faith against the supposed objection that it allows sin. 
The supposition is that if a man can be declared just with- 
out the works of the law, then he is free to break the law. 
Paul declares, on the contrary, that justification by faith 
issues in a life of holiness, and that justification and sancti- 


76 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 7: 1-6 


fication are inseparable. He shows that by faith in Christ _ 
one is severed from his sin-stained-past.and_is turned-with 
radiant hope toward a new and holy life. He has in the 
preceding chapter drawn an illustration from the institu- 
tion of slavery, and has shown that one who is united to 
Christ has been delivered from the bondage of sin and has 
been made a servant of righteousness. In this paragraph 
he is using the illustration of marriage, and is showing 
that by faith in Christ one is dead to the former influences 
of the law and is so united with the living Christ as to 
produce conduct pleasing unto God. Thus he shows that 
the life of faith is a life of freedom both from sin and the 
law, yet it is a life of purity and holiness and spiritual 
power. 

In here dealing with the matter of law, Paul addresses 
particularly the Jewish converts or others who like them 
were familiar with the revealed law of God. He lays down 
the familiar principle that “the law hath dominion over a 
man for so long time as he liveth.”’ Law is limited, how- 
ever, by life. Its dominion is ended by death. Only while 
one lives is one bound by the law. Under this general 
principle Paul gives a specific example. It is that of a 
woman who is bound by the law during the lifetime of her 
husband, ‘but if the husband die, she is discharged from 
the law of the husband.”’ That is to say, she dies to that 
law, she is freed from that law, ‘‘so that she is no adulteress, 
though she be joined to another man.’ In like manner, 
Paul insists, those who are ‘made dead to the law through 
the body of Christ”’ are free to be united with the risen 
Christ in a blessed union which will result in ‘‘fruit unto 
God.”’ This death to the law through the body of Christ 
refers to the experience of those who trust in the work of 
the crucified Saviour as the ground of their acceptance 
with God and have no confidence in their own righteous- 
ness or in the good deeds which they have done. Upon 
them the law has no claims; even as upon obedience to it 
they base no hopes. They have been crucified with Christ 
and so are dead to all the rebukes and the demands of the 
law. The result is that such believers can be joined in vital 
union to him who was raised from the grave. 


Kom. de?) LHE LIFE OF. THE-BELIE VERS 17 


The issue of such a union with Christ is contrasted with 
the results of the former alliance with law. ‘‘For when we 
were in the flesh,’”’ writes Paul, ‘“‘the sinful passions, which 
were through the law, wrought in our members to bring 
forth fruit unto death.” That is, before our acceptance of 
Christ, while we were in bondage to sin and were under 
the power of the law, those passions which result in sin 
and which are aroused and strengthened by the law itself, 
acted upon the powers of body and of mind to produce 
results which led only to death. 

By way of contrast, Paul declares that ‘‘now we have 
been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein 
we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and 
not in oldness of the letter.’’ That is to say, our release 
from the law, our death to it as a way of securing accept- 
ance with God, our freedom from its commands and its 
condemnation, have enabled us to render God a new 
service which is spiritual in its essence and not mere at- 
tempted obedience to an ancient code. It is service through 
the power of a living Christ and not a mere human and 
hopeless endeavor to conform to a written statute. 

The main message of this paragraph is perfectly clear. 
lt is true, however, that there exist the most widely di- 
vergent interpretations of Paul’s illustration from mar- 
riage.” Many writers, in fact, treat the illustration rather 
as an allegory. They regard the ‘“‘husband”’ in the illustra- 
tion as our corrupt nature and the ‘“‘wife’’ as our real and 
higher self. When, therefore, the old nature, or as Paul 
uses the phrase, our ‘“‘old man”’ dies, the soul is free to 
marry another, even Christ. Still other interpreters re- 
gard the wife as the Christian Church. In-spite of these 
divergent views, the essential truth is the same. Paul 
wishes us to understand that if we are to attain holiness 
and virtue, it can never be through any attempted obedi- 
ence to external law, but rather by vital union with the 
living Christ. 

4. The Inward Struggle. Ch. 7 : 7-25 
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. 


Howbeit, I had not known sin, except through the law: 
for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, 


78 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 7:8-25 


Thou shalt not covet: 8 but sin, finding occasion, wrought 
in me through the commandment all manner of coveting: 
for apart from the law sin is dead. 9 And I was alive apart 
from the law once: but when the commandment came, 
sin revived, and I died; 10 and the commandment, which 
was unto life, this I found to be unto death: 11 for sin, 
finding occasion, through the commandment beguiled me, 
and through it slew me. 12 So that the law is holy, and the 
commandment holy, and righteous, and good. 13 Did then 
that which is good become death unto me? God forbid. 
But sin, that it might be shown to be sin/ by working death 
to me through that which is good;—thaf through the com- 
mandment sin might become exceeding sinful. 14 For we 
know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under 
sin. 15 For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, 
that do I practise; but what I hate, that I do. 16 But if what 
I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good. 
17 So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in 
me. 18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth 
no good thing fr to will is present with me, but to do that 
which is good ?s not. 19 For the good which I would I do not: 
but the evil which I would not, that I practise. 20 But if 
what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin 
which dwelleth in me. 21 I find then ,the law, that, to me 
who would do good, evil is present. 22 For I delight in the 
law of God after the inward man: 23 but I see a different 
law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, 
and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which 
is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! who shall 
deliver me out of the body of this death? 25 I thank God 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I of myself with the 
mind, indeed, serve the law of God; but with the flesh the 
law of sin. 


Every man is conscious that conflicting forces of good 
and evil are contending fiercely for the mastery of his soul. 
He is ready to confess that in his struggle victory all too 
seldom rests on the side of the good and that the evil com- 
monly overcomes. Every heart assents to the confession 
of the ancient poet, 

‘Video meliora proboque, 

Deteriora sequor”’ 
(“I see the good, and approve it, and yet pursue the 
wrong’’), and also agrees with the verdict of the pagan 


Rome) -/-25 GE LIbPE OR THE BELIEVERS 79 


sage: ‘He that sins does not do what he would, but what 
he would not that he does.” 

This conflict between the lower and the higher self 
forms the fabric of all drama and all fiction, and of all the 
tragedy and the misery of human life. No one ever felt 
this struggle more keenly or painted it so strikingly as the 
Apostle Paul. However, his discussion extends to a realm 
far higher than that of other writers. He does not depict 
the struggle merely between the human conscience and 
the will, in which all men are engaged. He describes rather 
the battle against evil fought by a soul which has been 
enlightened by the law of God and renewed by the Spirit 
of God, a battle in which hopeless defeat is turned into 
victory by the triumphant power of Christ. 

The occasion of this matchless passage from the pen of 
the apostle is his defense of the doctrine of justification. by 
faith. Three possible objections are proposed: First, that 
it encourages sin, ch. 6:1; secondly, that it allows sin, 
ch. 6:15. Paul replies that, on the contrary, true faith in 
Christ delivers the believer from bondage to both sin and 
the law. This leads to a third supposed objection: If one 
declares that in order to lead a holy life it is necessary to 
be delivered from the law, this is to make the law an evil 
and an unholy thing. ‘What shall we say then? Is the 
fowecine } ch? 737.9 {Ged terre cries the apostle; and 
then he proceeds to show that the law is good in its own 
sphere and for its proper purpose. It was designed to re- 
veal sin, not to relieve from sin. It can give relief neither 
to the Saul suffering under the conviction of sin, vs. 7-13, 
nor to the soul struggling against the power of sin, vs. 
14-25. 

In each of these two instances Paul phrases his reply in 
the form of a personal experience. Nothing could be more 
vivid; yet, while so peculiarly individual, nothing could 
be more universal in its application. Paul reverts in 
memory to a time, when, as a proud young Pharisee, he 
was at ease, confident that he was keeping the law of God 
because he was so carefully observing its outward forms. 
However, there came a day when there dawned on his 
mind the full spiritual meaning of the law, specifically of 


80 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 7: 7-25 


the commandment, ‘‘Thou shalt not covet.’ The result 
was twofold. First, it revealed to Paul how much of evil 
desire really lay lurking in his heart. This he never before 
had realized. There was, however, an even more terrible 
result. The very command, “Thou shalt not,’’ made him 
the more eager to do the thing forbidden. Before the 
commandment came, sin was “dead’’; it was compara- 
tively dormant, inert, and inoperative; but when the com- 
mandment came, it gave an impulse to sin. “Sin revived, 
and I died,’ that is, | died to my complacent self-satisfac- 
tion. I died to true holiness and happiness and hope; I 
fell deeper and deeper into guilt; | faced only misery and 
doom and eternal death. 

Paul states here a distressing law of human perversity, 
namely, that a knowledge of right, and a command to 
obey, instead of producing virtue, are strong incentives 
to vice. As an old Roman writer declared: “We always 
endeavor to obtain that which is forbidden, and desire 
that which is denied,’ or, as another confessed: “‘The 
permitted is unpleasing; the forbidden consumes us 
fiercely.” 

Does this prove the moral law to be an evil thing? By 
no means. The law is ‘‘life’’; obedience to it would issue 
in purity and happiness and peace. The law is “‘holy’”’ and 
“righteous” and ‘‘good.”’ It is no fault or defect of the 
law that it is the occasion of conviction and of condemna- 
tion. The whole fault lies in man, and in the principle of 
sin, which really works the disaster. So, Paul declares, in 
his case, sin was allowed to work out its deadly result in 
order that sin might be made to appear in all its horrid 
and hideous character. No, the law cannot relieve of sin, 
but by it sin is revealed, vs. 7-13. 

Nor can the law deliver one who is struggling against 
sin—not even one who has accepted Christ as a Saviour, 
unless one, looking away from the law and ceasing to trust 
in his own ability to keep the law, will cast himself wholly 
upon the saving power of Christ. The trouble again is not 
with the law: ‘For we know that the law is spiritual,” it 
is pure and holy, the very gift of God. The trouble lies 
with poor, weak human nature. ‘But I am carnal,” 


hon /ofetor bhi VIbhy OFSATHE, BELIEVERS 81 


writes the apostle, under the power of bodily appetites 
and lusts, ‘‘sold under sin,’’ like a captive in war sold into 
the service of a cruel tyrant who denies ‘to his victim all 
freedom and all power of self-control. This Paul makes 
clear by describing the conflict he has known in fighting 
against the evil tendencies and appetites which continue 
to strive for mastery over the soul even of a Christian. 
This description is measurably true of every human being 
who is conscious of the struggle between the higher and 
the lower self; but Paul is here describing himself as a 
servant of Christ, as one who delights in the law of God, 
as one who really wishes to do good. Even he finds in 
himself ‘‘a law,’’ a compelling power, bringing him as a 
captive under the dominance of sin. In himself, in his 
nature aside from the influence of God, there is “‘no good 
thing’’; at least, he is so powerless that, do what he will 
and love virtue as he may, still he finds his experience to 
be such as he describes in the classic phrase: ‘The good 
which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, 
that I practise.’”’ No amount of knowledge, no effort of 
the will, are sufficient to give victory over sin. ‘‘ Wretched 
man that | am!”’ cries the apostle; ‘‘who shall deliver me 
out of the body of this death?’’ Who can set him free 
from those evil appetites and desires which use as their 
instrument this human body with its weaknesses and its 
lust, and bring one now and ever under the power of death? 
Like a shout of triumph comes the reply: “I thank God 
through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ The thanksgiving is of- 
fered through Christ, but it is because through him, and 
him algne, victory is assured. 

Then Paul summarizes the solemn message of this sec- 
tion, vs. 14-25, by declaring that as long as a Christian 
trusts only in his own unaided powers and seeks thus to 
keep the law of God, no matter how truly he may love 
that law, he is certain to be defeated in his struggle for 
virtue, and to be sold as a captive to sin. ‘‘So then I of 
myself with the mind, indeed, serve the law of God; but 
with the flesh the law of sin.’’ Victory is possible only 
through faith in Christ. He alone can make us conquerors; 
and to him be all the praise, 


82 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 8:1-11 


5. Life in the Spirit. Ch. 8: 1-17 


a. The Possibility of Holiness. Ch. 8: 1-11 


1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them that 
are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ 
Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For 
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the 
flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh 
and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 that the ordinance 
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, 
but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh mind the 
things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things 
of the Spirit. 6 For the mind of the flesh is death ; but the mind 
of the Spirit is life and peace: 7 because the mind of the flesh 
is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, 
neither indeed can it be: 8 and they that are in the flesh can- 
not please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, 
if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man 
hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if 
Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the 
spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of 
him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he 
that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also 
to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 


If the Epistle to the Romans rightly has been called 
“the cathedral of the Christian faith,’ then surely the 
eighth chapter may be regarded as its most sacred shrine, 
or its high altar of worship, of praise, and of prayer. Its 
splendors are all the more striking because, as readers, we 
have just emerged from the darkness and the terrqgof the 
seventh chapter, with its experiences of moral faire and 
defeat. However, as we were leaving that dark chamber, 
there fell on us a dazzling ray of heavenly light promising 
deliverance through Christ; here, we stand in the full 
liberty of the children of God, and enjoy a prospect of 
that glory of God which some day we are to share. 

Thus this chapter centers our attention upon two great 
realities, both secured by the Spirit of God: first, the power 
for holy living, vs. 1-17, and second, the hope of eternal 
glory, vs. 18-39; and these two are very closely related, 


Rom.8:1-11) THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVERS 83 


for the power of the Spirit, which enables believers to be 
holy, is an earnest of their heavenly inheritance. 

The presence of this power, therefore, makes holiness 
possible, vs. 1-11, and for this very reason, makes it more 
plainly an obligation and a duty, vs. 12-17. 

The first sentence of the chapter turns the thought back 
over the truths already traversed and indicates that here 
the structure of the epistle is reaching its climax and its 
crown: ‘‘ There is therefore now no condemnation to them 
that are in Christ Jesus.’’ This freedom from ‘‘condemna- 
tion,’ this justification, is ‘“by faith,” as has been shown 
by all the chapters which precede; or, to use the expression 
here employed, it is ‘“‘to them that are in Christ Jesus.’’ 
To be “in Christ Jesus’’ is to enjoy that vital union with 
him which, on the part of the believer, means trust, obedi- 
ence, submission, love. The result first mentioned is the 
‘““justification’’ of which Paul has been writing; but other 
results are to be mentioned, such as the indwelling of the 
Holy Spirit and all the consequent train of blessings. 

This freedom from condemnation refers to (1) past sins, 
(2) the possession of a sinful nature, (3) the possibility of 
overcoming sin. 

(1) There is little possibility of holiness until one has 
the joyful assurance that his sins have been forgiven and 
that he has peace with God, ch. 5:1. Pilgrim makes little 
progress until he reaches the cross and feels the burden of 
his sins roll away. 

(2) Many Christians, however, need to be assured that 
guilt no longer rests upon them because of the sinful na- 
ture of which they are so painfully conscious. Christ Jesus 
has atoned for our sin as well as for our sins, and if we are 
in him, then, though we know the evil of our own hearts, 
we can rejoice in our present acceptance with God. 

(3) Nor need the sinful nature of a believer be allowed 
to express itself in sinful acts, which would bring one under 
condemnation. Holiness is possible. Each one can truth- 
fully apply to himself the words of Paul: ‘‘For the law of 
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the 
law of sin and of death.”’ 

By the word “law,” Paul here means not the law of 


84 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 8:1-11 


Moses but the power, the operation, the influence of the 
Holy Spirit, who delivers the believer from the power or 
dominion of the tyrant, ‘‘Sin,’’ and from his dread awards, 
or ‘“‘wages,’’ namely, ‘‘death.”” By way of contrast, the 
Spirit here is called ‘“‘the Spirit of life,’ for he is the 
Author of love and joy and peace and holiness and eternal 
life. Not by struggling in our own strength can we live 
holy lives, but by the power of the Spirit, as we appro- 
priate to ourselves all that has been secured for us by 
Christ. He has made provision whereby we are enabled ’ 
to keep the law of God, and in him holiness is possible: 
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak 
through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness 
of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that 
the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who 
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”’ 

The reason why the law could not ‘condemn sin” and 
make it powerless, was because poor human nature was 
powerless to resist temptation and was ever inclined to 
evil. The law could reveal sin and condemn sin, but it was 
unable to solve the problem of sin. It was ‘“‘weak”’ because 
it was dealing with frail and sinful men. ‘It was weak 
through the flesh.” ( 

God, however, brought deliverance, by ‘‘sending his 
own Son,” who assumed human nature with all its charac- 
teristics, excepting its sinfulness. Thus he came “‘in the 
likeness of sinful flesh.”’ He came “for sin,” that is, to 
expiate sin, and quite as truly to expel sin. “In the flesh,”’ 
that is, by taking upon himself human nature, yet denying 
to sin any power over him, and finally, by his death, he 
‘‘condemned sin,’’ revealed its true nature, deposed it 
from its dominion, and delivered from its thralldom all 
who put their trust in him, so that, in his death, believers 
have at once the ground of pardon and the pledge of purity. 
The great purpose of his mission, therefore, was that “the 
ordinance of the law,” the just requirement of the Mosaic 
moral code, “‘ might be fulfilled in us.” A 

This is possibly the strongest, fullest, clearest statement 
in reference to the doctrine of justification by faith that 
the apostle has made. Contrary to all the supposed ob- 


ad 


/ 


Rom. 8:1-11 THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVERS 85 


jections, this method of justification, neither encouraging 
sin nor allowing sin, nor making the law a sinful thing, 
was the only possible method by which sinful men could 
overcome sin and obey the law. The very purpose of justi- 
fication is sanctification. The very end in view, according 
to God’s way of saving men, is the complete fulfillment of 
all that the law of God demands. This fulfillment of the 
law can be made, however, only by those ‘‘who walk not 
after the flesh, but after the Spirit,” that is, who live not 
according to the corrupt passions and evil inclinations of 
human nature but according to the guidance and the 
regulating power of the Holy Spirit. 

The necessity for walking according to the Spirit is evi- 
dent from the contrast between these two modes of life. 
Persons who yield to the appeal and are under the influence 
of sinful desires, think of, and care for, and seek to obtain 
only those things which belong to the flesh; while those who 
“wall after the Spirit’’ have their practical interests in 
the sphere of the things that are spiritual. 

The results are quite as different. Of the one it is 
“death,” both of the soul and the body; of the other, it is 
‘life,’ and a sense of harmony and peace with God. In 
fact, it is particularly in their relation to God that these 
two modes of life are most contrasted. Those that are “‘in 
the flesh’’ are hostile to God, disobedient to God, and in- 
capable of obeying God. 

On the contrary, Christians are under the influence not 
of the “flesh” but of the Spirit, because the Spirit of God 
dwells in them. This is true of every Christian. All may not 
yield themselves in equal measure to the influence of the 
Spirit; some may more frequently grieve him and disobey 
him; but he never leaves ‘the Christian. To speak of a 
Christian who has not the abiding presence of the Holy 
Spirit is a contradiction in terms: “But if any man hath 
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his,” v. 9. 

Therefore the presence of the Holy Spirit is attended 
with blessed results, for while the body of a believer is still 
subject to the law of death and certain in time to die, yet 
his spirit is instinct witha new and heavenly life because 
of the very fact of the righteousness which has been re- 


86 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 8:12-17 


ceived by faith. Not only so, but the presence of the Holy 
Spirit is an earnest and pledge of the resurrection of the 
body; for if the Spirit of God ‘‘that raised up Christ Jesus 
from the dead”’ dwells in the believer, then surely God 
will raise from the dead the body of the believer. Of this 
certain resurrection the Spirit may be regarded as the 
Agent (‘through his Spirit’’), or more probably the 
Pledge (‘‘because of his Spirit,” v. 11, margin); for a body 
which has been sanctified as a temple of the Holy Spirit 
will not be left permanently under the power of death, 
but will be raised in immortal glory. Such a glorious 
destiny of spirit and of body awaits all those who are 
“in Christ Jesus.”’ 


b. The Duty of Holaness. Ch. 8: 12-17 


12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live 
after the flesh: 13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; 
but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye 
shalllive. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these 
are sons of God. 15 For ye received not the spirit of bondage 
again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby 
we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit himself beareth witness 
with our spirit, that we are children of God: 17 and if children, 
then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be 
ee we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with 

im. 


Two opposite tendencies are manifested by Christians 
in the matter of holy living. Some grow indifferent and 
fall back under the slavery of sin; others strive to do right 
only because they are afraid to do wrong, and they stand 
in constant dread of God whom they serve in the attitude 
of slaves. Against both of these tendencies Paul warns 
his readers, as he reminds them that holiness is a duty, 
and that it can be attained only by allowing the Holy 
Spirit to rule the life, as one lives in trustful fellowship with 
God as his loving Father and looks forward to a heavenly 
inheritance in glory. 

Paul has been setting forth the high privilege of Chris- 
tians for whom holiness has been made possible by the 


Ronee el) lis Clb ROR THEY BELIEVERS 87 


incarnation and the saving work of the Son of God, and 
by the indwelling power of the Spirit of God. 

However, high privilege always involves grave responsi- 
bility. If holiness has been made possible for Christians 
at so great cost, and if they have been called also to a 
heavenly destiny, then surely, for every Christian, holiness 
is a duty, an obligation, a debt. 

“So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to 
live after the flesh.’’ To the old life of sin, to its evil pas- 
sions and appetites and indulgences, we owe no debt of 
obedience. Our real debt is to the Spirit who empowers us 
for holy living, to whom therefore we owe submission and 
service. If we live according to the “flesh’’ we shall not 
fulfill the glorious destiny Paul described when assuring 
believers of that future glory in which even their bodies 
are to share. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; 
but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, 
ye shall live.’’ These ‘‘deeds of the body,’ these sins to 
which we are tempted by our bodily appetites, must be 
done.to death by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every day 
has its battles for a follower of Christ, every hour its 
struggle; but by trustfuP surrender to the Holy Spirit, 
constant victory can be enjoyed. Then in the truest sense 
we ‘‘shall live.’ 

This is so because all who “‘are led by the Spirit of God, 
these are the sons of God”’; they enjoy life in its fullness, | 
they are objects of his special favor. This relation to God 
as his ‘‘sons’’ implies a trustful intimacy. As Christians, 
we have “received not the spirit of bondage again unto 
fear,’’ not such a spirit as might rule a slave, a spirit of 
dread and terror, such a spirit as possibly we felt before 
when we were living under law or possibly under the 
mastery of sin. On the contrary, we have ‘‘received the 
spirit of adoption,”’ a spirit which inspires and befits those 
who have been adopted as sons. In such a spirit of filial 
trust and confidence and love, we draw near to God in 
prayer, and cry, ‘‘Abba, Father.’’ The Aramaic word for 
father, ‘“‘“Abba,’’ was on the lips of our Lord in the hour 
of his agony, and became familiar to all believers, so that 
the added word, ‘Father,’ is here less like a translation 


88 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 8:12-17 


or an explanation than a repetition, the repetition of a 
child crying, ‘Father, father, O father!” 

To such a consciousness of nearness, of acceptance, and 
of affection, the Spirit himself adds his own witness, as- 
suring us, even as our own spirit assures us, that we, who 
are all that is implied by the word “sons” are also “chil- 
dren of God.” ‘‘Sons”’ is the term more commonly em- 
ployed by Paul. It denotes a legal relationship, one of 
privilege and of right. ‘“‘Children”’ is the term more usual 
in the writings of John, and denotes kinship, nature, birth, 
origin. Strictly speaking, one becomes a ‘‘son’’ by adop- 
tion, a “child’’ by a ‘‘new birth.’’ We have received a 
spirit of trust and fellowship, befitting those who have 
been brought into the family of God by his gracious 
adoption; yet it is also the spirit of those who realize 
their vital relation to God as his own children, born of 
his Spirit. 

Here, however, the relations of law and of kinship are 
closely united; for Paul at once argues that “if children, 
then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.”’ 
According to Roman law, though not Jewish, all children, 
including adopted children, received equal shares of an 
inheritance. Thus, as his ‘‘sons,’’ we are to share the 
heavenly glory of God; as his ‘children,’’ we are to par- 
take, more and more fully of his divine nature. 

To such an inheritance, however, a condition is here 
attached: “If so be that we suffer with him, that we may 
be also glorified with him.’’ V. 17. These sufferings are 
probably not merely the trials and distresses incident to all 
human life, but rather the hardships and sacrifices and 
persecutions we suffer for the sake of Christ, and specifi- 
cally in his service. Those who thus suffer, or who endure 
all distresses patiently as his servants, will surely share 
his heavenly glory, a glory he had with the Father ‘‘ before 
the world was. 

Holiness, then, is a duty. It is not merely a privilege of 
the few, but because the privilege of all, it is an obligation 
for all; and this obligation is emphasized by the facts. here 
set forth, namely, that as the sons of God, believers are 
guided by his Spirit, they enjoy fellowship with him as 





Rom. 8:18-25 THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVERS 89 


their Father, they are joint heirs with his Son. Surely such 
considerations as these cannot fail to make them eager to 
fulfill more perfectly their obligation to lead holy lives. 


6. Patience in Suffering. Ch. 8 : 18-30 


a. The Hope of Glory. Ch. 8: 18-25 


18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are 
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be re- 
vealed to us-ward. 19 For the earnest expectation of the 
creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For 
the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but 
by reason of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the cre- 
ation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of cor- 
ruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. 
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travail- 
eth in pain together until now. 23 And not only so, but our- 
selves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we 
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, 
to wit, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope were we 
saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for 
that which he seeth? 25 But if we hope for that which we see 
not, then do we with patience wait for it. 


Paul is always a prophet, in the sense that he speaks for 
God to men; occasionally, however, he prophesies in the 
more popular sense of predicting future events. This he 
does with no such mention of details as to cast doubt 
upon the fulfillment, but rather with such dignity and 
reserve as to argue divine guidance and authority. Evi- 
dently his purpose never is to gratify idle curiosity, or to 
indulge in fruitless dreams. His intention is always prac- 
tical. He seeks either to inspire purity of life or patience 
in suffering, or to justify the dealings of God with men. 

Twice in this chapter he has mentioned the future glory 
of believers, but only in references which were logically re- 
lated to hisargument. First, in speaking of the sanctifying 
power of the indwelling Spirit, he concludes that his pres- 
ence in believers is a pledge of the resurrection of their 
bodies, v. 11; and second, in describing the sonship of be- 
lievers, he argues that this assures their share in the 
heavenly glory of Christ, v. 17.4 


90 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 8:18-25 


In this second instance, however, he adds a condition: 
those who are to share the glory of Christ must first share 
his sufferings; and all that Paul adds as to future glory is 
designed to make Christians patient in present sufferings. 

The first reason he assigned for such patience is the sur- 
passing greatness of the glory: “For I reckon that the 
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be com- 
pared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward,”’ 
v. 18. Paul has just stated that the path to glory lies 
through pain. But what of that, he is now saying, “‘ For 
the pain is not worth a thought in view of the radiant 
splendor which some day will break through the dark 
clouds to surround and transfigure us.’ ‘I reckon’’ de- 
notes not doubt but a confident assurance. ‘The suffer- 
ings of this present time”’ include all the persecutions and 
trials and distresses and afflictions which are endured for 
the sake of Christ. ‘“The glory” is that which is to trans- 
form the bodies and the souls of believers at the coming, 
the future appearing, of Christ. 

That glory is certain to appear. ‘The revealing of the 
sons of God,” their future manifestation in heavenly 
splendor, is absolutely assured. One proof is seen in the 
expectant attitude of all nature, turned eagerly toward 
that predicted event in the glory of which nature itself is 
to havea share. “‘For the earnest expectation of the crea- 
tion waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God.” V. 19. 

With arresting boldness of poetic imagery, Paul personi- 
fies all animate and inanimate creation. Centuries ago all 
nature was condemned to disappointment, to a sense of 
futility and emptiness, was made a slave to decay and 
corruption, ‘‘was subjected to vanity.’ This was contrary 
to “its own will’’; it was due to no fault of its own; God 
fixed this doom upon it. But at the same time he inspired 
the hope, that, as nature had been made to share in the 
bondage of corruption because of the fall and sin of man, 
so, too, it yet would partake of the freedom from evil and 
decay which constitute the future “glory of the children 
of God.” Vs. 20, 21. The very groans and travail pains of 
universal nature are prophetic not of death but of new 
life; they are the birth throes of a better order of things. 


Rom. 8:26-29 THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVERS 91 


V. 22. Paul thus teaches not the destruction but the re- 
newal of nature. He indicates that its present is neither 
its original nor its final state, but the present contains the 
prophecy of a more glorious future. 

The experience of Christians points in the same direc- 
tion. These sighs of irrational creation are shared by the 
sons of God, whose very groans are prophetic of the glory 
which yet is to be theirs. For we are sighing for that full 
harvest of blessedness of which the Spirit is the first fruit 
and earnest. Just because we have this pledge, we yearn 
only more intensely for the complete realization of our 
“adoption, which will consist in the redemption of our 
body.” For when our bodies are delivered from death by 
resurrection, or by instant transformation at the appear- 
ing of Christ, then our glory will be complete, v. 23. 

Such an expectation of completed ‘‘adoption”’ on the 
part of Christians is in perfect keeping with the conditions 
under which they accepted salvation. They accepted it 
not in complete possession but also in prospect; not as a 
fully accomplished reality, but, so far as the body and 
external conditions were concerned, as a hope: “For in 
hope were we saved.’’ Our salvation, thus, from the first, 
was qualified with a hope of blessings yet to be ours. Had 
the object we longed for already been realized, hope would 
have ceased to exist. ‘‘Hope that is seen is not hope.’’ As 
our perfect blessedness is future, we cannot expect to enjoy 
it now. However, in view of this future “‘revealing of the 
sons of God,” we wait in earnest expectation, and learn 
what it is to be patient in suffering. 


b. The Divine Help and Purpose. Ch. 8: 26-30 


26 And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: 
for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit him- 
self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot 
be uttered; 27 and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth 
what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh inter- 
cession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And 
we know that to them that love God all things work together 
for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose. 
29 For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be con- 


92 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 8:30 


formed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn 
among many brethren: 30 and whom he foreordained, them 
he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: 
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 


Against a dark background of present suffering, Paul 
has been depicting the future glory of believers; he has 
been encouraging them to be patient in their suffering be- 
cause of the surpassing greatness of the coming glory. 
Here he adds two further reasons for patience, namely, 
the help being given by the Spirit of God and the knowl- 
edge of the loving purpose of God. 

‘‘And in like manner,”’ that we, in spite of our sighs and 
sufferings, may “with patience wait’’ for the promised 
glory, ‘‘the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity ’’—our natural 
weakness which might make us faint and despair under 
the trial and delay. There is one particular form of help 
which Christians all need, and which Paul proceeds to 
specify, namely, help in prayer: “For we know not how 
to pray as we ought’’—we are ignorant of the right con- 
tent and form of prayer. This is one of the most common 
and conscious of our limitations; ‘but the Spirit himself 
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot 
be uttered.’’ This intercession of the Spirit is not apart 
from, but in and through our consciousness. As Augustine 
said, ‘‘Not in himself, and with himself, but in us he 
groans, for he makes us groan.’’ He inspires in our hearts 
yearnings and aspirations and desires which are too deep 
for words. V. 26. . 

However, these prayers, so imperfectly expressed, are 
certain to be heard and answered, for “‘he that searcheth 
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because 
he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will 
of God.”’ ‘He that searcheth the hearts” is a phrase that 
well might fill us with fear, but here it is designed to give 
comfort and hope. In spite of all our failure and weakness 
and discouragement, God looks down deep into our hearts 
and he sees there the secret and unexpressed desires for 
holiness and happiness and glory which his own Spirit has 
inspired, and he interprets these sighs, breathed into our 
hearts by his Spirit, as prayers offered for his own people, 


a 


Rom. 8:26-30 THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVERS 93 


and in accordance with his own will. Surely in no experi- 
ence of life can we rely upon divine aid more confidently 
than when in the exercise of prayer; and when we feel even 
too weak to pray, we can rest confident that a divine 
Intercessor, a Helper, a Comforter, is voicing the longings 
we lack strength to express. 

A third reason, vs. 18, 26, for patiently enduring suffer- 
ing with Christ, for his sake, and in his cause, is found in 
the conviction, held in common by all Christians, ‘‘that 
to them that love God all things work together for good,” 
v. 28. Few statements of Scripture are more familiar than 
this, or more full of comfort. Some ancient manuscripts 
introduce the word ‘‘God”’ a second time in this brief 
phrase: ‘‘And we know that God coéperates for good in 
all things with those that love him.’’ In both cases the 
meaning is the same. All things work together for good 
not by inherent force, not by fate or chance, but by divine 
control. Thus not only does the divine Spirit help us in 
our weakness, but divine Providence works with us “for 
good in all things.”’ This comforting conviction is strength- 
ened by experience and observation, but it is founded upon 
faith in the constant care of a loving Father. The ‘‘all 
things”’ refers first to sufferings, and the ‘“‘good”’ to future 
‘“‘slory’’; but we need not restrict the meaning. No ex- 
perience incident to human life should be regarded as be- 
yond the permission and power of God, or incapable of 
being used by him to promote our truest “‘good.”’ 

There is one restriction, however. This ‘‘good”’ is “to 
them,” or this codperation for good is with them only 
“that love God.” All things worth mentioning are against 
those who do not love him, all his holiness and his justice 
and his power and his changeless law and his eternal 
judgment; but those who seek to do his will, those who 
accept his salvation, those who rest in his grace, can be 
sure of his loving care in the darkness as well as in the 
light, and can know that through all the mysteries of life 
he is perfecting a plan of eternal glory. 

To strengthen our faith further, Paul describes those 
who, from the human point of view, ‘“‘love God,” as those 
who, from the divine side, ‘‘are called according to his 


94 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 8:26-30 


purpose’’; and then he states five successive steps by 
which this divine ‘“‘purpose”’ is being carried into effect. 
(1) It includes an act of divine intelligence reaching back 
into eternity; even then God “foreknew”’ us and regarded 
us with favor. (2) It is expressed also as an act of the 
divine will: ‘‘Whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to 
be conformed to the image of his Son’’; so that believers 
are destined ultimately to bear the moral and spiritual 
likeness of their Master and Lord. The final purpose of 
this foreordaining, or predestinating act, is the glory of 
the Lord, “that he might be the firstborn among many 
brethren’’; for the supreme glory of Christ consists in the 
salvation of that brotherhood of the redeemed among 
whom he stands forth as the supreme and the unique 
“Son of the Father.’’ (3) This gracious purpose, formed 
in eternity, is carried out in time by a divine call given by 
his Spirit to those for whom God has such a destiny in 
store. (4) “And whom he called, them he also justified”’ 
—he freely forgave their sins and declared them to be 
righteous. (5) “And whom he justified, them he also 
elorified.”’ That past tense, “‘glorified,’’ in reference to an 
experience which at least in its fullness is still future, has 
been termed ‘‘amazing,’’ “the most daring anticipation of 
faith that even the New Testament contains’; but the 
future glory of believers is a present reality in the mind and 
purpose of God. Some foregleams of that glory they already 
enjoy, and its hope is so assured that through all this 
chapter it is being emphasized, to encourage patience in 
suffering on the part of those who are ‘‘heirs of God, and 
joint-heirs with Christ.” 

In all this majestic movement whereby these successive 
stages of the divine purpose are carried into effect, nothing 
is stated as to the agency or activity or responsibility of 
believers. Here the thought is of God. That Paul also be- 
lieved and taught the freedom of the human will, the re- 
sponsibility of man, and the need of repentance and faith 
and love, must not be forgotten. Nor does he ever seek 
to reconcile these two spheres of truth. However, in seek- 
“ing to encourage us to patience in suffering and to con- 
fident expectation of future glory, he wisely fixes the at- 


Rom. 8:31-39 THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVERS aS 


tention wholly upon that which must be ultimate in all 
our thinking and our thanksgiving, namely, upon the 
mysterious, loving, eternal purpose of God. 


7. The Assurance of Salvation. Ch. 8 : 31-39 


31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, 
who is against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but 
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him 
freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay anything to the 
charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth; 34 who is he 
that condemneth? Itis Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that 
was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, 
who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate 
us from the the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or 
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
36 Even as it is written, 

For thy sake we are killed all the day long; 

We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors 
through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that 
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, 
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate 
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 


This is probably the most majestic passage which has. 
come to us from the Apostle Paul. It is the climax of his 
argument. He has shown that believers in Christ are 
justified by faith, that their justification results in holy 
living and finally issues in eternal glory. Now follow this 
triumphant hymn which voices for believers their con- 
fident assurance of salvation. For them there can be no 
loss, vs. 31, 32; upon them can rest no condemnation, vs. 
33, 34; to them can come no separation from the love of 
God in Christ Jesus, vs. 35-39. 

There is, however, an immediate connection between 
this “‘paean of exultant praise’’ and the verses which im- 
mediately precede. Paul has been tracing the successive 
steps by which God carries out his eternal purpose toward 
them that love him. ‘‘ What then,” asks the apostle, “shall 
we say to these things?’’ In view of this divine plan of 
mercy, what conclusion can we draw other than that of 


96 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 8:31-39 


comfort and of confidence? There can be no doubt of the 
power of God; no enemy can withstand his purpose: “If 
God is for us, who is against us?’’ Nor can there be any 
doubt of God’s love. As Abraham spared not Isaac, so he 
“spared not his own Son,”’ his only Son, the One who alone 
shared his divine being. Is this not absolute proof that he 
is ready to ‘‘freely give us all things’’ needed for our sal- 
vation? As he is able, so he surely is willing to save. There 
then can be no loss for the believer. Vs. 31, 32. 

Nor can there be any condemnation. Even of believers 
it is true that ‘‘conscience does make cowards of us all,” 
in the sense that we are made fearful and despondent and 
ashamed as we remember our failures and faults and sins; 
but if God has declared that we belong to him, and if he 
has pronounced us just, what accusation need be feared: 
‘Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s élect? It 
is God that justifieth.” 

Likewise, as no one can reopen the case against us, so, 
too, no contrary verdict need be feared. Christ is our De- 
fender, our Advocate, our Saviour, our Hope, “who is he 
that condemneth?’’ If we have sinned, Christ died for 
our sins, and his resurrection is a pledge and proof of our 
acquittal; if we feel our weakness before temptations, we 
remember that he is in the place of supreme power “‘at 
the right hand of God’’; and, also, in virtue of his atoning 
work he ever ‘maketh intercession for us.’’ As our trust 
is in him, we allow our souls to be distressed by no terrors 
from the past. Vs. 33, 34. 

Nor does the prospect of the future fill us with fear. 
Nothing it may bring can separate us from the love of 
Christ. “Shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or 
famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Surely, for 
Paul and his friends in Rome, these were no empty words. 
They knew so well, and were yet to know, what it means 
to suffer for the sake of their Lord that they could well 
apply to themselves the description, given by the inspired 
psalmist, of innocent sufferers in his day: 


“For thy sake we are killed all the day long . 
We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”’ 


Rom. 8:31-39° THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVERS 97 


With all these things in view, so certain was Paul of the 
unfailing love of Christ, that he could exclaim, ‘‘ Nay, in 
all these things we are more than conquerors through him 
that loved us.’”’ In just what particular we can be ‘‘more 
than conquerors’’ Paul leaves us to conjecture; whether 
in ‘“‘the overwhelming defeat of our enemies,’”’ or in our 
“surpassing”? or ‘triumphant victory,” or in our ‘‘un- 
conquerable strength,”’ he does not say; possibly he means 
that all these trials only give us more thrilling experiences 
of the love of Christ which was manifested in his death 
for us, and is revealed towards those who live for him. 

In any case, Paul confirms this sense of “jubilant tri- 
umph”’ by a statement of his own unalterable conviction 
that in the whole universe there is nothing which Christian 
faith need fear. No form or phase of being can break the 
golden chain that binds the heart of God to his loved ones. 
Not “‘death”’ with its terrors or ‘‘life’’ with its changes; 
not any condition of existence; not “‘angels,’’ nor any 
hierarchy of invisible beings, whether good or evil; noth- 
ing within the sweep of time either ‘‘present”’ or ‘“‘to 
come,” however powerful; nothing in the illimitable spaces 
above or beneath; nothing in all the vast creation shall be 
able to sunder us from that divine love which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord. Our comfort, our consolation, our blessed 
assurance of salvation rest, in the last analysis, not upon 
anything in us, but rather upon the power and steadfast- 
ness of almighty love. 





98 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom.,, chs. 9 to 11 


C. THE PROBLEM OF ISRAEL’S REJECTION. Chs. 9 to 11 


The ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters of the epistle 
form what is termed a ‘‘theodicy,”’ a vindication of God, 
a justification of his dealings with men. 

The particular problem which confronted Paul was the 
fate of Israel. This was God’s chosen people, his elect 
nation; how then could the people of Israel be under the 
wrath of God, as the epistle has declared them to be? 
How can this choice of God be reconciled with his con- 
demnation of Israel? 

Then, too, through his inspired prophets, God had prom- 
ised that Israel should be a blessing to all the nations of 
the earth; this blessing was to consist not merely in giving 
to the world a Saviour, a Messiah, but in accepting this 
Saviour and in fellowship with this Messiah. In fact, 
however, Israel had rejected Christ, the Saviour; and while 
Israel was being set aside, Gentiles were receiving all the 
blessings of justification and new life and eternal glory, 
through faith in Christ. How, then, can the promises of 
God be reconciled with the unbelief and consequent re- 
jection of Israel? 

In these three chapters Paul makes his reply. First, the 
promises of God were never intended for all who were 
Israelites by birth, but for such as were true children of 
God by faith, and at the present time those who were 
truly God’s chosen people from among both Jews and 
Gentiles were receiving the greatest of all blessings, the 
righteousness provided by God. Ch. 9. 

Secondly, the rejection of Israel as a nation was due 
entirely to the fault of Israel. The way of salvation ap- 
pointed by God, even through faith in Christ, was offered 
to all, and had been made perfectly plain to Israel. Their 
rejection, therefore, was not arbitrary on the part of God, 
but was due to their stubborn and willful unbelief. Ch. 10. 

Thirdly, the rejection of Israel, while only partial, was 
likewise only temporary. A time would come when Israel 


Rom., chs. 9 to11 ISRAEL’S REJECTION 99 


as a nation would repent and accept Christ as their Mes- 
siah and become a blessing to all the nations of the world. 
Ghyslt® 

The nature of this reply, therefore, shows the place 
which these chapters occupy in the epistle. They are not 
a digression, not a parenthesis, not an appendix, but a 
necessary part, indeed the very climax of the argument, 
the completion of the doctrinal teaching which the epistle 
sets forth. From the first, Paul had been writing with his 
Jewish kindred in mind. He had declared his gospel to be 
“the power of God unto salvation . . . to the Jew 
first, and also to the Greek.’’ He had demonstrated how 
much the Jew needed the righteousness which the gospel 
revealed. He had shown, from the Jewish Scriptures, the 
way of righteousness by faith. He had answered the 
various objections which a Jew might make to a righteous- 
ness which was ‘“‘apart from the law.”’ It was absolutely 
necessary, then, that Paul should deal with the historic 
and pathetic situation in which the Jews, as a nation, 
were rejecting the righteousness which God had provided; 
and further that Paul should show how this present unbelief 
on the part of Israel was related to the salvation of Gen- 
tiles, and how this salvation of Gentiles was destined to 
stir up Israel to jealousy and to the acceptance of the 
Messiah. These three chapters, therefore, contain Paul’s 
philosophy of history, and show that the “justification by 
faith”’ of which he has been writing is absolutely universal 
in its application, and that his gospel is yet to bring sal- 
vation to all the nations of the world. 

These chapters are difficult, possibly the most difficult 
to interpret of any which Paul ever penned. Their chief 
obscurities are in connection with his statements of divine 
sovereignty and ‘“‘election.’’ It should be noted, however, 
that he is discussing national conversion and not indi- 
vidual salvation. If the latter were in view, he probably 
would have been more explicit and comprehensive in his 
statements. 

Then, again, care should be taken to note all that he 
says even here. It is possible to form quite wrong opinions 
by reading detached and isolated statements; the three 


100 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom., chs. 9 to 11 


chapters must be read as a unit. Paul does state the 
sovereignty of God, but also, quite as clearly, the free 
agency and moral responsibility of man. The three chap- 
ters form a trilogy: The first deals with divine sovereignty, 
the second with human responsibility, the third with 
universal blessing; the first with ‘election,’ the second 
with “rejection,” the third with ‘‘restoration’’; the first 
with the past, the second with the present, the third with 
the future. They open with a cry of anguish as Paul looks 
upon the unbelief and loss of the kinsmen he so truly loves; 
they close with a doxology of praise in view of the mercy 
which overarches all the mysterious providences of God, 
whose “‘judgments’’ are ‘“‘unsearchable,’’ whose “ways 
past tracing.”’ 

The discussion is intensely practical. Paul makes no 
endeavor to reconcile the facts of divine predestination and 
human freedom, nor to explain the relation of the will of 
God to the will of man. While stating, in startling terms, 
the sovereignty of God, he none the less holds Israel 
responsible for its impenitent unbelief, and warns the 
Gentiles against pride, self-confidence, and loss of 
faith. 

In fact, the practical aspect of the discussion is its main 

yx feature. Israel is regarded not merely as Israel but as 
representing all that vast mass of men who in all time are 
seeking salvation by works of law, by human effort, by a 
righteousness of their own. The presentation of the doc- 
trine of justification by faith here reaches its climax. The 
peril and plight of Israel is that of every man who refuses 
the salvation freely offered through faith in Christ. 

God does promise blessings to those who do right and 
keep his law, but this is divinely conditioned upon faith 
in him, and upon a heart full of submission and trust, not 
upon any mere outward conformity to law. Ch. 9. 

Again, no matter how moral one is trying to be, he is 
really guilty of fatal fault, if he is willfully refusing the 
way of goodness and life, of pardon and purity, provided 
in Jesus Christ, ch. 10. 

Then, too, all men will come ultimately to see that 
God’s way of salvation is the only way. Jew and Gentile 


Rom. 9: 1-5 ISRAEL'S REJECTION 7 101 


at last will turn in faith to Christ, and will praise the good- 
ness and grace of God. Ch. 11. 

It may be added that there is practical help in reading 
any true ‘‘theodicy.’’ At times, we all need to have the 
dealings of God explained. His providences are full of 
mystery; the fulfillments of his promises are long delayed. 
We must be encouraged to trust in his sovereign grace, to 
be faithful and submissive to Christ, and to look forward 
to a glorious future when at last we shall understand ‘‘the 
riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!... 
To him be the glory for ever. Amen.” 


1. The Rejection of Israel Is Not Complete. Ch. 9: 1-29 
a. Paul's Sorrow for Israel. Ch. 9: 1-5 


1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing 
witness with me in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow 
and unceasing pain in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I my- 
self were anathema from Christ for my brethren’s sake, my 
kinsmen according to the flesh: 4 who are Israelites; whose is 
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving 
of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5 whose 
are the fathers, and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, 
who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. 


The Christian Church would never lack converts if all 
its members or even its ministers felt for their friends and 
fellow countrymen the deep concern expressed by the 
Apostle Paul for his kinsmen the Jews. 

He has been gazing with rapture upon the present 
blessedness and future glory of Christian believers; and 
as he now turns to consider the unbelief of his own people, 
Israel, the contrast causes him to cry out with anguish of 
heart. He attests the truth of his statement by affirming 
that he speaks as one whose life is centered ‘in Christ”’ 
and whose “‘conscience’”’ is under the direct influence of 
“the Holy Spirit.” : 

The intensity of his feeling is emphasized by describing 
it as ‘great sorrow,” and as “‘unceasing pain’’ of heart. 
He does not specify the cause of his grief, but leaves it to 
be implied; and he solemnly attests his sincerity by stating 


102 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 9:1-5 


that, if thus he might secure the salvation of his people, 
he could wish himself ‘‘anathema,” ‘‘accursed,’’ and so 
separated ‘‘from Christ.’’ He does not assert that such a 
wish is actual or that such an end could be accomplished 
by such means. Here we must avoid “the error of explain- 
ing the language of feeling as though it were that of reason- 
ing and reflection.’’ Paul thus expresses his unmeasured 
devotion. He was like Moses, who prayed for his guilty 
people, ‘‘ Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin ; and 
if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou 
hast written.’ So the apostle is expressing his willingness 
to make any sacrifice to accomplish the salvation of Israel. 

He states two grounds for his intense passion. The first 
is that the Jews are his “‘brethren,”’ his ‘‘kinsmen accord- 
ing to the flesh.”’ They are not members of that even dearer 
Christian brotherhood which is “‘according to”’ the Spirit. 
Nevertheless, Paul here recognizes and glorifies those 
human ties of blood and kinship which are ever to be held 
sacred, which Paul refuses to renounce in spite of the Jew- 
ish hatred which has caused him constant pain and peril. 
He never forgot the claims of nature. He loved his people 
just because they were his people. 

However, there is a second cause for his passionate con- 
cern; it consists in the special privileges which have been 
given to the Jews as the chosen people of God. He cannot 
endure the thought that those so highly favored are perish- 
ing for lack of faith. They are ‘Israelites,’ and as bearers 
of that sacred name, they are partakers of the promises 
made to Jacob, to whom the name “‘Israel”’ was first given. 
They are the descendants and heirs of Israel: can it be 
that they are shut off from the blessings God assured to 
his seed? They are a people in covenant relation with God: 
has God cast them off? 

Theirs is ‘‘the adoption,”’ the status of an adopted son, 
for from among all the nations of the world God chose 
Israel to be his peculiar people, his “‘son,’’ his “firstborn.” 
Eexde22 Shoes st ies 

Theirs is ‘‘ the glory,”’ the Shekinah, the visible presence 
of God in the tabernacle and in the Temple of old: had 
this presence been permanently withdrawn? 





Rom. 9:1-5 ISRAEL’S REJECTION 103 


Theirs are ‘‘the covenants,”’ repeatedly renewed, bind- 
ing them as a people to God. To them had been given “‘ the 
law,” by direct revelation and amidst circumstances of 
peculiar awe and splendor. 

Theirs is the Temple ‘‘service,” a ritual of divine ap- 
pointment and of unparalleled significance and solemnity. 

Theirs are ‘‘the promises,” pointing forward to a coming 
Messiah in whom they, and through them all the nations, 
are to be blest. 

Theirs are ‘‘ the fathers,”’ the ancient Patriarchs, who as 
saintly ancestors cast a glory over all the generations of 
Jews. 

Last of all, their supreme privilege and distinction is 
this, that from them has come Christ, of their own blood 
so far as his assumed humanity is concerned, but in his 
eternal ‘“‘being”’ ‘‘over all, God blessed for ever.”’ 

It is true that many devout scholars prefer to read the 
last clause as a doxology: He ‘who is over all, God be 
blessed forever.’’ If that reading is accepted, still it can 
be remembered that there are many other New Testament 
passages which assert the deity of our Lord; but it is prob- 
ably safe to follow the Authorized and the Revised Version 
and to regard this as the most positive statement of the 
divine nature of Christ found in all the writings of Paul. 

Such peculiar privileges, culminating in their gift to the 
world, even Christ, their promised Messiah, are enough 
to explain Paul’s love for his Jewish kinsmen, and his 
anguish of heart at their unbelief. 

The paragraph, however, serves as an admirable intro- 
duction to the three chapters which it opens, for while 
Paul is to set forth the responsibility and the guilt of Israel, 
such an opening expression of passionate love disarms any 
suspicion of prejudice or of hostility on his part; and at 
the same time, this recital of the high privileges of Israel 
only emphasizes the problem of Israel’s rejection. Each 
item of the long list indicates that the nation has been 
chosen of God and is peculiarly precious to him. How 
can such a people fail to enjoy the salvation which has 
been provided by God? This is the problem Paul is now to 
discuss. 


104 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 9:6-11 


However, on turning from this inspired catalogue of 
Jewish privileges, it may be well for Christians to consider 
how the larger privileges which they enjoy may be associ- 
ated with these same terms. 

The Jews bore the name of “‘Israelites.’? What is the 
fuller and more glorious significance of the name “‘ Chris- 
tians?’’ Theirs, as a nation, was ‘‘the adoption,”’ but all 
who accept the gospel message, are “‘heirs of God, and 
joint-heirs with Christ,’ and theirs is the spirit of sonship 
whereby they cry to God, “Abba, Father.’’ Theirs is “‘the 
glory’? which shines from the face of Jesus Christ, the 
supreme revelation of God to men. Theirs is a ‘“‘new 
covenant”’ in the blood of Christ, “poured out for many 
unto remission of sins.”’ Theirs is the gift of the Spirit of 
God by whose power can be fulfilled ‘‘the law”’ of God. 
Theirs, too, are “precious and exceeding great promises,” 
by which they ‘‘become partakers of the divine nature.’’ 
Theirs, too, are the ‘‘fathers,’’ and they are ever inspired 
by the consciousness that they belong to the great com- 
pany of saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, whose lives 
have hallowed the earth, with whom they shall be united 
in heaven. ‘‘Christ”’ is theirs and they are his, and having 
him they have all things. 

Such exalted privileges imply sacred obligations. Should 
not all Christians feel ‘great sorrow and unceasing pain’”’ 
for those whose hearts are hardened, who in blind un- 
belief are rejecting the salvation of God? 


b. Israel’s Rejection and God's Promise. Ch. 9: 6-13 


6 But itis not as though the word of God hath come tonought. 
For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: 7 neither, be- 
cause they are Abraham’s seed, are they all children: but, In 
Isaac shall thy seed becalled. 8 Thatis, itis not the children 
of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the 
promise are reckoned for a seed. 9 For this is a word of prom- 
ise, according to this season will I come, and Sarah shall 
have ason. 10 And not only so; but Rebecca also having con- 
ceived by one, even by our father Isaac—11 for the children 
being not yet born, neither having done anything good or 
bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, 


Rom. 9:12, 13 ISRAEL'S REJECTION 105 


not of works, but of him that calleth, 12 it was said unto her, 
The elder shall serve the younger. 13 Even as it is written, 
Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. 


Paul has been voicing his sorrow for the people of Israel, 
a sorrow deepened by the fact that they are his own kin- 
dred, and further, that they have been the recipients of 
divine promises and have enjoyed unparalleled privileges 
as the chosen people of God. He has not stated, however, 
the cause of his sorrow. This has been implied. His pain 
of heart is due to the rejection of Israel; they have been 
cast off; they are not receiving the blessings which Gentiles 
are enjoying through faith in Christ. It would seem, then, 
that God had broken his promise, that God was unfaithful 
to his word. 

Paul at once replies that the case is not such, ‘‘as though 
the word of God hath come to nought,’ for the promises 
made to Israel were never intended for all who were 
descended from Jacob, any more than the promise made 
to Abraham was intended for all his sons. Among the 
latter, Ishmael was older than Isaac, yet when Abraham 
had cast forth Hagar and her son, there came to him the 
divine word, ‘“‘In Isaac shall thy seed be called.’’ This 
shows that the right to be the children of God and heirs 
of his promises does not depend upon the mere accident 
of birth but upon the action of the divine will in accord- 
ance with the divine word. The promise is the important 
matter, not mere physical birth. Thus before Isaac was 
born, the promise was made, “According to this season 
will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.’’ Thus Isaac was 
a child of promise, born not only in accord with the prom- 
ise but because of the will of God which the promise ex- 
pressed, and because of Abraham’s faith in God which 
rested on the promise of God. 

Therefore, the promises of God to the nation of Israel 
are not being broken even though Israelites are being re- 
jected for their unbelief and Gentiles are being saved 
through their faith in the Saviour whom God has sent. 
Some Israelites are being saved. Israel’s rejection is not 
complete; but ‘‘they are not all Israel, that are of Israel.” 

Or take an even more startling example of rejection. 


106 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 9:6-13 


The two sons of Isaac, unlike Isaac and Ishmael, had the 
same mother as well as the same father; indeed they were 
twins. Yet before their birth and thus before they had 
‘done anything good or bad”’ God rejected one and ac- 
cepted the other as heir of the promises. He declared, 
‘The elder shall serve the younger,’’ and the whole course 
of history, as related to these sons and the nations which 
sprang from them, could be summed up in the words of 
the Prophet Malachi, “I loved Jacob; but Esau I hated.” 

It is true that the ‘‘ profane,’’ faithless character of Esau 
justified God in rejecting him; nevertheless the action of 
God preceded his birth and was absolutely free and quite 
independent of any claims based upon birth or good 
works. It illustrates ‘the purpose of God according to 
election,” showing that the choices of God, while always 
righteous and holy, are absolutely sovereign and not de- 
termined by human claims of birth or merit. 

It also illustrates the fact that while the promises were 
made to Israel, God does not disregard his promises when 
he determines to accept some and to reject others from 
among those who are Israelites merely by natural descent. 

Of course Paul does here bring to mind the mysteries of 
divine election and does intimate that the careers of Jacob 
and Esau were in some way determined before their birth; 
yet it is quite aside from the point to argue from these 
words that the eternal salvation or perdition of individual 
souls is determined by a divine decree ‘‘which has no re- 
lation to what they are or do.” 

The purpose of Paul is plain and practical. It is to warn 
any Israelite against supposing that simply because of his 
birth and his outward obedience to Jewish law he can 
claim from God a share in the promises made to Israel; 
and further, Paul thus definitely shows that God is faithful 
to his promises even when rejecting the present unbeliev- 
ing masses of his chosen race. 

That practical purpose of the apostle bears a message | 
to men of all races to-day. No one should suppose that 
birth or blood gives-one a right to the privileges of a child 
of God; one ‘‘must be born again.’’ No one should allow 
| his position in a Christian community or in a godly family 


Rom. 9: 14-29 ISRAEL’S REJECTION 107 


to make him careless as to his personal relation to Christ. 
No one should claim that membership in a church or 
participation in the sacraments can make him an heir to 
the glory of God; it is only by vital faith in Jesus Christ 
that we become Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to 
promise. 


c. Israel's Rejection and God’s Justice. Ch. 9: 14-29 


14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with 
God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy 
on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I 
have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor 
of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy. 17 For the 
scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise 
thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that my 
name might be published abroad in all the earth. 18 So then 
he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hard- 
eneth. 

19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? 
For who withstandeth his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art 
thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to 
him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus? 21 Or hath 
not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to 
make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dis- 
honor? 22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to 
make his power known, endured with much longsuffering 
vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: 23 and that he might 
make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, 
which he afore prepared unto glory, 24 even us, whom he also 
called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? 
25 As he saith also in Hosea, 

I will call that my people, which was not my people; 
And her beloved, that was not beloved. 
26 And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto 
them, Ye are not my people, 
There shall they be called sons of the living God. 
27 And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the 
children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant 
that shall be saved: 28 for the Lord will execute his word 
upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short. 29 And, as 
Isaiah hath said before, 
Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, 
We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto 
Gomorrah. 


108 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 9: 14-29 


The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart has proved a stubborn 
problem, if not an actual stumblingblock to many readers 
of the Old Testament story. It has been supposed that 
God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and then unjustly punished 
Pharaoh for his hardness. 

However, it should be noted, first, that if God is said to 
have hardened Pharoah’s heart, it 1s said quite as dis- 
tinctly that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Secondly, 
God was working through natural laws, and the heart of 
Pharaoh was hardened as a result of his own free, defiant, 
and cruel choices and acts. Thirdly, it is evident that the 
story is not correctly interpreted if it is supposed to show 
injustice on the part of God, for Paul is here quoting the 
story with the one purpose of proving the justice of God. 
The very matter under discussion is that of divine justice. 
The question is just this: In saving certain Jews and many 
Gentiles, while most Jews are allowed to continue in un- 
belief, is not God exercising an unjust choice? On the 
contrary, Paul shows that according to Scripture, God 
himself asserts his freedom of choice in two similar or typi- 
cal cases, namely, in showing mercy toward Moses and 
severity toward Pharaoh. 

In the case of Moses it was not due to human will or 
effort, it was ‘‘not of him that willeth, nor of him that 
runneth,” but it was due wholly to the sovereign grace of 
God that his great mercy was shown. So in the case of 
Pharaoh, it was the sovereign choice of God that selected 
him to be the historic example of God’s resistless power 
and of his certainty to punish defiant and rebellious dis- 
obedience. Paul does not here mention the complementary 
truths of faith and fault on the part of men; he is asserting 
only the soveréign freedom of God, whether in showing 
mercy or in hardening, whether in the cases of Moses and 
Pharaoh, or in the case of the believing and unbelieving 
Jews in the days of Paul. The choices and actions of God 
are not capricious or unjust, but they are absolutely free 
and uncontrolled. Vs. 14-18. 

If, however, God is sovereign and carries out his pur- 
poses through or in spite of the will of man, how can God 
blame men for disobedience or unbelief? Does not divine 


Rom. 9: 14-29 ISRAEL'S REJECTION 109 


sovereignty abolish all human responsibility? Would not 
God be unjust if he punished those who rejected Christ? 

Paul replies by another appeal to the Old Testament 
Scriptures. He cites the familiar parable of the potter. 
If the relation of God to men is that of the potter to the 
vessels he forms from the clay, how can man, the creature, 
find fault with the Creator? The potter has a right to make 
of the same clay one vessel for an honorable use, another 
for a dishonorable; can man, therefore, charge God with 
injustice if he chooses to show his severity towards those 
who merit his displeasure, and his mercy toward chosen 
objects of his grace? 

Indeed, as creatures of God, men could hardly sit in 
judgment upon God and accuse him of injustice if he had 
been arbitrary and capricious and severe; but how can 
anyone accuse God of injustice in view of the way he 
actually has dealt with men? He has been patient and 
long-suffering toward his impenitent people, Israel, and 
has purposed to show all the wealth of his glory toward 
the objects of his mercy, chosen not only from among the 
Jews, his covenant people, but even from among the Gen- 
tiles? The sovereignty of God is absolute; yet it is never~ 
exercised in condemning men who ought to be saved, but 
rather it has resulted in the salvation of men who deserved 
to be lost. Surely no one can regard God as unjust if he 
is rejecting impenitent and unbelieving Israelites and is 
saving Gentiles who turn to him in penitence and faith. 
Vs. 19-24. 

This salvation of Gentiles and rejection of Israel had 
indeed been predicted by the prophets, and thus, in further 
establishing the justice of God, Paul again appeals to 
Scripture. In the case of the Gentiles he quotes the beauti- 
ful words of Hosea, spoken in reference to the apostate and 
idolatrous Ten Tribes but involving the same principle of 
divine pardon and mercy: 


“T will call that my people, which was not my people;_ 
And her beloved, that was not beloved.”’ 


And further, as these tribes were to be restored to their 
own land, so that the scene of their new adoption would 


110 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 9: 14-29 


be the same as that of their sin; thus the words spoken of 
them by Hosea are applied by Paul to Gentiles, who, in 
the lands where they had lived in ignorance of God or in 
disobedience to his will, would know the blessedness of 
being his children: ‘There shall they be called sons of the 
living God.” 

In the case of Israel, Paul quotes from Isaiah to show 
that it has been predicted that, for a time at least, the 
whole nation would be rejected and only a small remnant 
be saved. Because of their unbelief, God would cut off 
his people, exercising his sharp and decisive sentence upon 
them, although in his mercy he would save some. The 
prophet was probably describing the punishment of Israel 
in his own day, and the remnant which was to escape from 
the devastating hosts of Assyria; but Paul applies the 
words to those in Israel who at the time he was writing 
were being saved by the gospel message. So he applies, 
in a similar way, an earlier prediction of Isaiah to the 
effect that the whole apostate nation would be blotted 
out and forgotten were it not that the Lord of hosts, in 
his mercy, would save some to preserve their seed and 
name: 


“Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, 
We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto 
Gomorrah.” 


From Sodom only four souls escaped; Gomorrah was 
utterly destroyed. Thus from the mouth of the Old Testa- 
ment prophets Paul establishes the fact that God is not 
only just but merciful, even in his present rejection of 
Israel. Vs. 25-29. 

In the next paragraph, vs. 30-33, he shows that in this 
rejection, prophecy has merely passed into history: Gen- 
tiles are being saved while Israel as a nation is being set 
aside. The latter, however, is due to the fault of Israel. 
The paragraph properly belongs, therefore, to the next 
chapter, which deals with Israel’s responsibility even as 
chapter nine has been setting forth God’s sovereignty. 
It serves, however, as a climax to the present phase of 
the argument which is establishing God’s justice. Even 


Rom. 9: 30-33 ISRAEL’S REJECTION i 


though he is acting in sovereign freedom, yet he is acting 
justly in setting aside a nation which is rejecting Christ, 
refusing God’s way of salvation, and neglecting his offer 
of grace. The doctrines of election and divine sovereignty 
do perplex and baffle the mind of man; yet no little relief 
is found when one faces the complementary truths of 
human freedom and responsibility. Paul has not hesitated 
to speak boldly and without qualification in setting forth 
the sovereignty of God in the rejection of Israel; he will 
now speak with equal unreserve in revealing Israel’s guilt, 
which after all is the occasion of Israel’s rejection. 


2. The Rejection of Israel Is Not Arbitrary. Chs.9:30to 10: 21 


a. Israel's Failure to Accept Christ. Ch. 9: 30-33 


30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed 
not after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the 
righteousness which is of faith: 31 but Israel, following after 
a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32 Where- 
fore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by 
works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling; 33 even as 
it is written, 

Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of 
offence: 
And he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame. 


It is a remarkable but familiar fact of religious history 
that men who most eagerly have sought to win for them- 
selves the favor of God by fasts and forms and sacrifices 
and obedience to law have failed to secure either peace of 
conscience or victory over sin, while others, who long have 
been indifferent to religion and unmindful of God, by an 
act of simple faith, of surrender and trust, have obtained a 
sense of pardon and a consciousness of invincible moral 
power. Many men to-day who think and talk the most 
about religion lack peace and purity and love, while others, 
comparatively ignorant of religious problems and _ proc- 
esses, so abandon themselves to God that they enjoy his 
presence and find fulfilled in their lives all his promises of 
blessedness and grace. 


112 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 9: 30-33 


This great fact Paul found illustrated ona national scale 
in the case of unbelieving Israel and the contrasted con- 
verts from among the Gentiles. He is discussing in chap- 
ters nine, ten, and eleven, the problem of Israel’s rejection; 
and as he passes to a new phase of his argument he prac- 
tically restates the problem, but with an element which 
increases its perplexity. He has been attempting to recon- 
cile with the promises of God and the justice of God the 
fact that the chosen people are being lost while Gentiles 
are being saved. “He now adds the consideration that the 
very people who are failing to attain salvation are earnestly 
seeking for salvation. ‘‘ What shall we say then?”’ asks the 
apostle. What is the state of the case? What is the problem 
we are stating? It is this: Gentiles, not all but many Gen- 
tiles, ‘‘ who followed not after righteousness,’ who did not 
make the attainment of righteousness their chief concern— 
these ‘‘attained to righteousness’’; but Israel, as a nation, 
“following after a law of righteousness,’ seeking to obey 
the law which would win for them righteousness, “‘did not 
arrive at that law”’ but failed to attain what that law 
promised and enjoined. 

‘‘Wherefore?’’ asks Paul, ‘‘ Because they sought it not 
by faith, but as it were by works.”’ This is the explanation. 
This is the real answer to the problem. Israel is being re- 
jected because of Israel’s guilty and stubborn unbelief. 
There has been on the part of Israel no real submission to 
God, no actual abandonment to his will. Israel has been 
attempting to put God under obligation by formal ob- 
servance of his law. Israel has failed because seeking for 
righteousness not by faith but by works. In the preceding 
portion of this chapter, Paul has viewed the problem of 
Israel’s rejection in the light of God’s sovereignty, which 
made it impossible for anyone to place God under obliga- 
tion to save him; Paul now enters upon that portion of his 
discussion where he dwells upon Israel’s responsibility, 
and shows that Israel’s rejection is not arbitrary on the 
part of God but is due to Israel’s unbelief. Chs. 9: 30 to 
10221. 

This unbelief has been given its supreme manifestation 
in Israel’s rejection of the Messiah. Christ came as the 


Rom. 10: 1-9 ISRAEL'S REJECTION 113 


One on whom Israel might have founded all their hopes 
of salvation, but he proved to be for them ‘‘a stone of 
stumbling and a rock of offence.’’ If Israel has fallen it is 
Israel’s fault. 

In referring to Christ, Paul does not at once name him, 
but quotes and mingles two Old Testament prophecies in 
which God’s appointed King, and even God himself, is des- 
ignated as the hope of Israel but also as ‘“‘a rock of offence’”’ 
to those who showed themselves to him. Paul finds the 
fulfillment of the prophecies in Christ, and refers to him 
the blessed assurance that ‘‘he that believeth on him shall 
not be put to shame.”’ 

So Christ is presented to men to-day. The refusal to 
accept him as God’s appointed Saviour is to reveal the 
fact that one does not really wish to submit to the will of 
God. One who rests on him for righteousness, for salva- 
tion, for eternal life, will never be disappointed, will never 
“be put to shame’’; but one who depends on his own good- 
ness and righteousness, and therefore rejects Christ, con- 
demns himself and finds Christ to be for him ‘‘a stone of 
stumbling and a rock of offence.” The rejection or ac- 
ceptance of Christ is still the proof of the attitude of a soul 
toward God, as being either guilty unbelief or saving faith. 


b. Israel’s Refusal of God's Righteousness. Ch. 10: 1-15 


1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my supplication to God is 
for them, that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness 
that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 
3 For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to 
establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the 
righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law unto 
righteousness to every one that believeth. 5 For Moses 
writeth that the man that doeth the righteousness which is of 
the law shall live thereby. 6 But the righteousness which is of 
faith saith thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into 
heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down:) 7 or, Who shall 
descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the 
dead.) 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy 
mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we 
preach: 9 because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth 


114 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS © Romeloctars 


Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised 
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: 10 for with the heart 
man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth con- 
fession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, 
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame. 
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for 
the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon 
him: 13 for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord 
shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom 
they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him 
whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without 
a preacher? 15 and how shall they preach, except they be 
sent? even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them 
that bring glad tidings of good things! 


There would be no lack of converts to the Christian 
faith if all who profess to follow Christ felt for the spiritual 
welfare of their fellow countrymen the deep concern ex- 
pressed by Paul for his own people: ‘‘ Brethren, my heart’s 
desire and my supplication to God is for them, that they 
may be saved.” 

This expression of deep solicitude for their salvation is 
due to the fact that he is about to emphasize even more 
severely his previous intimation that the rejection of Israel 
is due to the fault of the Israelites. His concern for them 
is deepened by the consideration that they really have a 
zeal for God and are making painful efforts to win his ap- 
proval. Their zeal, however, is not according to true 
spiritual knowledge. They are seeking to attain a righteous- 
ness of their own and are thus refusing the righteousness 
which God provides. 

Their own way of salvation, one indeed which men seem 
to prefer naturally, is by the way of strict observance of 
laws by which one achieves merit for himself. This way 
has come to its end in Christ. As a way of salvation it finds 
its termination in him; for everyone who has found peace 
and pardon through faith in him has abandoned the old 
way of seeking righteousness by works of the law. 

That the old way was difficult, if not impossible, was 
implied by the lawgiver Moses when he wrote, “ Ye shall 
therefore keep my statutes; . . . which if a man do, he 
shall live in them’”’; by which he meant that life in all its 


Rom. 10: 1-15 ISRAEL’S REJECTION 115 


fullness, here and hereafter, was to be attained by unde- 
viating obedience to legal rules. Such an obedience, how- 
ever, Paul earlier in this epistle has shown to be impossible. 

We are not to conclude, however, that Moses deceived 
or mocked his people. In his day, and under his system, 
men could be right with God; but it was by the way of 
faith, which regarded the law as an expression of God’s 
will and trusted in God for pardon and grace. Now that 
God has revealed himself more fully in Christ, true faith 
places no reliance upon the self-righteousness which con- 
sists in the formal observance of rules, but accepts the 
salvation, the power, and peace, the new life, which are 
offered in Christ. 

In contrast with that old way of salvation, ‘‘the right- 
eousness which is of faith’’ is supposed by Paul to speak 
and to say that it is near and accessible to all. It employs 
familiar words of Scripture to which it gives new meaning: 
There is no need to say who will go up to heaven to bring 
Christ down, or who will ascend into the deep to bring 
Christ from the dead, for the Christ who is the object of 
true faith is one who has already come to earth in the 
form of man, and has already been raised from the dead. 
The gospel message centers in such an incarnate and risen 
Christ. It is a message which is familiar to each one, ‘in 
thy mouth, and in thy heart.”’ 

The substance of the message is this: ‘Confess with 
your mouth Jesus as your Lord and believe in your heart 
that God has raised him from the dead and you shall be 
saved, for real faith of the heart results in righteousness 
and will naturally express itself in open confession.’’ Paul 
refers here to incarnation and resurrection not as exclusive 
but as typical truths, as intimating a necessary belief in 
the divine person and saving work of Christ. 

This way of salvation is now supported by a quotation 
from Scripture: ‘‘Whosoever believeth on him shall not 
be put to shame.”’ The universal application of these words 
of Isaiah is warranted because no difference is made be- 
tween Jews and Gentiles in the bestowal of righteousness 
upon believers, because the same Lord of all, even Jesus 
Christ, is rich in his bestowal of grace and salvation upon 


116 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 10:16-20 


all who call upon him in faith and trust. That salvation is 
certain to be granted to all who so call upon Christ is 
shown by a quotation from Joel describing the deliverance 
to be granted in the Kingdom of the Messiah before the 
great day of the Lord. 

A way of salvation so universal in its application de- 
mands a world-wide proclamation. This fact Paul empha- 
sizes by a series of four significant questions: ‘“‘ How then 
shal] they call on him in whom they have not believed? 
and how shall they believe in him whom they have not 
heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and 
how shall they preach except they be sent?”’ 

This universal character of the gospel has always been 
a valid and cogent argument for Christian missions. It 
should be noted, however, that in this passage the Lord 
is the one by whom the preachers are sent, and that those 
who hear the messengers really hear him in whose name 
they speak, and by hearing come to believe in him and to 
call upon him for salvation. 

The glory of this mission is such that Paul describes it 
in words borrowed from Isaiah when depicting the mes- 
sengers who carried the glad tidings of restoration from 
the Captivity in Babylon. Thus indeed the messengers of 
Christ are carrying into all the world the good news of 
deliverance from sin and death, of a return to God, of the 
glorious Jerusalem above, of the joys of the ransomed, of 
the eternal blessings of the redeemed. 


c. Israel's Neglect of the Gospel Message. Ch. 10: 16-21 


16 But they did not all hearken to the glad tidings. For 
Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So 
belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 
18 But I say, Did they not hear? Yea, verily, 

Their sound went out into all the earth, 
And their words unto the ends of the world. 
19 But I say, Did Israel not know? First Moses saith, 
I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no 
nation, 
With a nation void of understanding will I anger you. 
20 And Isaiah is very bold, and saith, 


Rom. 10:21: ’ ISRAEL'S REJECTION i Sy 


I was found of them that sought me not; 

I became manifest unto them that asked not of me. 
21 But as to Israel he saith, All the day long did I spread out 
my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. 


Religious opportunities are too frequently neglected. 
Multitudes of men who are quite familiar with the gospel 
are indifferent to its message, while others who for the 
first time hear its glad tidings eagerly accept the salvation 
it offers in the name of Christ. Of the former class were 
the Jews of Paul’s day. In proving that Israel’s rejection 
is due to Israel’s fault, Paul here shows that the people 
are without excuse, and that their rejection is due to their 
proud, stubborn, willful unbelief. 

The “glad tidings of good things’’ were proclaimed to 
all, ‘‘but they did not all hearken”’; far from it; Israel 
practically as a nation had rejected Christ. This was the 
tragic fact; and this guilty unbelief had been predicted by 
Isaiah in his pathetic words, “Lord, who hath believed 
our report?”’ The message had been sent and should have 
been received. The opportunity for faith had been given, 
for ‘‘belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of 
Christ.”’ That is, the gospel is not a matter of intuition or 
imagination or conjecture or reverie, but of revelation. It 
is a message given by God to men; its sum and substance 
is the person and work of Christ; and faith consists in a 
humble, grateful acceptance of this message. 

Israel could not plead as an excuse that this message 
had not been heard, for the gospel had been preached 
throughout the whole Roman world. So wide was this 
proclamation that Paul quotes in reference to it the words 
of the psalmist written of the revelation of God in nature: 


, 


“Their sound went out into all the earth, 
And their words unto the ends of the world.” 


As the silent voices of the skies proclaim to the whole 
world the power of the Creator, so the voices of Christian 
heralds are declaring in all lands the glory of the redeem- 
ing Christ. 

Nor can the excuse be given that the gospel message has 


118 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 10: 16-21 


not been understood. That it was designed for other na- 
tions, and that Israel would be slow to accept it, had been 
predicted from the earliest days of Israel’s history. Even 
Moses had declared that heathen would be given a share 
in the blessings of God’s people and would thus excite the 
jealousy and anger of the Jews: 


“T will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no 
nation, 
With a nation void of understanding will I anger you.” 


The words were in the ancient days a warning to the idola- 
trous people of Israel. If they continued to be untrue to 
Jehovah, he would provoke their jealousy by showing 
mercy to nations who were, from the Jewish point of view, 
no real nations, and void of religious knowledge. Such a 
situation was paralleled in Paul’s day by the rejection of 
Israel and the call of the Gentiles. 

The same truth was set forth boldly by Isaiah, in spite 
of the natural displeasure of his people at such a prediction. 
Words which referred first of all to apostate Jews are ap- 
plied in principle to Gentiles: 


‘“‘T was found of them that sought me not; 
I became manifest unto them that asked not of me.’’ 


Finally Paul makes another quotation from the prophet 
to show that God’s love had been unique and exhaustless. 
He had ever sought to bring Israel back into fellowship 
with himself. He had stood with outstretched hands. He 
had called them to him by the voices of pleading mes- 
sengers. Last of all he had sent his Son. If Israel was still 
unsaved—if, for the time, the nation was rejected—it was 
only because of Israel’s fault. The people of Israel were 
disobedient and rebellious. In truth God could say to 
them, ‘‘All the day long did I spread out my hands unto 
a disobedient and gainsaying people.”’ 

How tenderly God is dealing to-day with many who are 
refusing his gospel! Patiently he is pleading; his offers are 
full of grace and mercy. Where will the fault lie in the case 
of those who reject his messages of love? 


Rom. 11:1-10 ISRAEL’S REJECTION 119 


3. The Rejection of Israel Is Not Final. Ch. 11 


a. The Present Election of Grace. Ch. 11: 1-10 


1 I say then, Did God cast off his people? God forbid. For I 
also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of 
Benjamin. 2 God did not cast off his people which he fore- 
knew. Or know ye not what the scripture saith of Elijah? 
how he pleadeth with God against Israel: 3 Lord, they have 
killed thy prophets, they have digged down thine altars; and 
I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the 
answer of God unto him? I have left for myself seven thou- 
sand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal. 5 Even so 
then at this present time also there is a remnant according 
to the election of grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no more of 
works: otherwise grace is no more grace. 7 What then? 
That which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the 
election obtained it, and the rest were hardened: 8 according 
as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that 
they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto 
this very day. 9 And David saith, 

Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, 

And a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them: 
10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, 

And bow thou down their back always. 


Can Jews be converted to faith in Christ? Is Jewish 
evangelization a futile and impertinent enterprise on the 
part of the Christian Church? Is the spiritual condition 
of Israel hopeless? To these important and searching ques- 
tions of the present day, Paul here gives his inspired reply. 

It is not difficult to trace the train of thought which has 
given rise to these questions. Paul has been discussing the 
problem of Israel’s rejection; that is, he has been attempting 
to reconcile the Old Testament predictions of Israel’s god- 
liness and glory with Israel’s present failure to share in the 
salvation which the Messiah is bringing to Gentile be- 
lievers. The ninth chapter of the epistle has shown that 
Israel’s present rejection is not inconsistent with the in- 
spired prediction or with the justice of God; chapter ten 


120 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 11:1-10 


has shown that Israel’s rejection is due to Israel’s stubborn 
unbelief; chapter eleven reveals that Israel’s rejection is 
neither complete, vs. 1-10, nor final, vs. 11-32, but is to 
issue in such a national restoration as will result in uni- 
versal blessing. Paul closes the discussion with adoration 
and praise. Vs. 33-36. 

Chapter nine has emphasized God's sovereignty ; chapter 
ten, Israel’s sin; chapter eleven declares that according to 
the providence of God even Israel’s sin is to be overruled 
to further the redemption of the whole world. 

“T say then, Did God cast off his people?’’ One might 
have so concluded from the solemn arraignment of re- 
bellious and unbelieving Israel with which the previous 
chapter had closed. ‘God forbid,” cries the apostle, and 
he at once explains why he rejects with horror the very 
idea as impious and incredible. ‘I also am an Israelite, of 
the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.’ He is 
himself a Jew by birth and not a proselyte, a lineal de- 
scendant of Abraham, and a member of the tribe which, 
with Judah, formed the restored nation after the exile 
and became the hope of the world. No wonder that he so 
vehemently denies that God has repudiated his people! 
‘God did not cast off his people which he foreknew.”’ It 
is true that the case of Israel seems desperate, but the 
situation is exactly like that which existed in the days of 
Elijah. The poor disheartened prophet had stood on the 
slopes of lonely Horeb and had cried out in despair, “The 
children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown 
down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: 
and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take 
it away,” but God had made answer ‘“‘ Yet will I leave me 
seven thousand in Israel, ... which have not bowed unto 
Baal.”’ Thus Paul concludes, ‘Even so then at this present 
time also there is a remnant according to the election of 
grace.” 

It was not due to their merit or their own attainments 
that such a saved remnant existed; it was due wholly to 
the grace of God. Yet it did exist. Jewish converts formed 
a very considerable fraction of the church at Rome, and a 
larger fraction stilleof the Church throughout the world. 


Rom, 11:1-10 ISRAEL'S REJECTION 121 


No Jewish convert to-day must allow himself to be 
overwhelmed by his loneliness; nor must the Church look 
upon the conversion of Jews as an impossible task. In 
proportion to the efforts made, more converts are being 
secured from among the Jews than from among any other 
race. Nor should we feel discouraged in any work to which 
God has called us. When doubt and denial seem universal 
and the cause of the Church appears desperate, let no 
prophet of God take too gloomy a view of the situation; 
let no one take himself too seriously and suppose that he 
is the only soul loyal to the Lord. There are always the 
seven thousand faithful ones, always ‘‘a remnant accord- 
ing to the election of grace,’”’ always a church within the 
Church through which God is working for the redemption 
of the world. 

On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the Jews as 
a nation are stubbornly fixed in their unbelief. “‘What 
then?’’ writes the apostle. Although this remnant does 
exist, what are we to say about the people as a whole? 
We cannot but admit the fact that ‘that which Israel 
seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained 
it, and the rest were hardened.”’ This, too, is in accord- 
ance with the predictions of the prophet. He declared 
that the people of Israel failed to receive the very right- 
eousness they sought and that because of their sin and 
unbelief they were judicially hardened so that they could 
not believe: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that 
they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, 
unto this very day.’’ Or, as the psalmist declared, “Let 
their table be made a snare,”’ that is, let the place in which 
they feel secure, or the very objects in which they delight, 
prove to be the source of their downfall and the occasion 
of their ruin. 

Paul recognized the noble but misguided efforts of the 
Jews to attain righteousness and to win the favor of God. 
The law in which they delighted proved to be _ their 
“snare,” their “‘trap,” their ‘‘stumblingblock’’; because 
of false confidence in their ability to keep its precepts and 
their stubborn rejection of Christ, it became their ‘“‘recom- 
pense,” that is to say, their perverse attitude toward the 


122 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 11:11-24 


gospel reacted in an incapacity to understand and to re- 
ceive it. In consequence they were in spiritual blindness 
and bondage, groping for light and bending beneath 
burdens too heavy to be borne. 

Such is the pathetic picture of many serious men to-day. 
They earnestly seek to live right lives, but trusting to their 
own strength and righteousness they reject the grace that 
is offered in Christ; they refuse to accept the pardon and 
peace and power which he is ready to give. They stumble 
along in darkness, they struggle in weakness and weari- 
ness, when in him-they might find rest for their souls. 


b. The Future Salvation of Israel. Ch. 11: 11-32 


11 I say then, Did they stumble that they might fall? God 
forbid: but by their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, 
to provoke them to jealousy. 12 Now if their fall is the 
riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; 
how much more their fulness? 13 But I speak to you that are 
Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I 
glorify my ministry; 14 if by any means I may provoke to 
jealousy them that are my flesh, and may save some of them. 
15 For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the 
world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the 
dead? 16 And if the firstfruit is holy, so is the lump: and if 
the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 But if some of the 
branches were broken off, and thou, being a wild olive, wast 
grafted in among them, and didst become partaker with 
them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree; 18 glory not 
over the branches: but if thou gloriest, it is not thou that 
bearest the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, 
Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20 Well; 
by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by 
thy faith. Be not high-minded, but fear: 21 for if God spared 
not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee. 22 Be- 
hold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them 
that fell, severity; but toward thee, God’s goodness, if thou 
continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut 
off. 23 And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, 
shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. 
24 For if thou wast cut out of that which is by nature a wild 
olive tree, and wast grafted contrary to nature into a good 
olive tree; how much more shall these, which are the natural 
branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 


Rom. 11:25-32 ISRAEL'S REJECTION 123 


25 For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this 
mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening 
in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles 
be come in; 26 and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is 
written, 

There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; 

He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 
27 And this is my covenant unto them, 

When I shall take away their sins. 
28 As touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake: 
but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ 
sake. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented 
of. 30 For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but 
now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, 31 even so 
have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy 
shown to you they also may now obtain mercy. 32 For 
God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have 
mercy upon all. 


What is to be the future of the Jewish people? By 
intermarriage and by the abandonment of distinguishing 
customs are they to be amalgamated and lost among the 
other races of the world? Or, as is now true of many, are 
they to lose their ancestral faith and, as a people possessing 
great elements of power and yet lacking moral restraint, 
are they to become a menace to civilization? Or again, is 
the dream of Zionism to be realized, is a Jewish state to 
be established in Palestine, is the nation to be reborn, and 
is it to add another problem and peril to the international 
politics of the world? Far different from any of these 
alternatives is the prediction of the Apostle Paul. He 
asserts that the present rejection of Israel is being over- 
ruled for the salvation of Gentiles; that the latter should 
be warned against unbelief by the present condition of 
Israel, and also warned against pride in view of the future 
restoration of Israel which is to result in the spiritual re- 
newal of the whole human race. 

The providential purpose served by the present unbe- 
lief of Israel is twofold: first, the rejection of the gospel by 
the Jews has resulted in the preaching of the gospel to the 
Gentiles; and secondly, spiritual blessings thus brought 
to the Gentiles will ultimately stir the Jews to emulation, 


124 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 11: 11-32 


will result in their conversion, and will issue in universal 
blessing. 

“T say then, Did they stumble that they might fall?” 
Is the condition of Israel incurable? Is their repudiation 
final? Is their ruin complete? ‘‘God forbid,” writes the. 
apostle, ‘‘but by their fall salvation is come unto the 
Gentiles,’’ and this is in order to arouse unbelieving Israel 
to emulation and so to bring them back to the place which 
rightfully belongs to them. ° 

‘Therefore,’ continues the apostle, ‘if the fall of Israel 
has brought to the world a wealth of spiritual blessing, by 
giving the gospel to the world and if their defection has 
thus enriched the world, what will result when they all 
are brought to Christ?’’ Or, as one has paraphrased the 
sentence, ‘‘If the Gentiles have been enriched in a sense 
through the very miscarriage and disaster of Israel, what 
wealth isin store for them in the great return, when all Israel 
shall be saved—when God hath made the pile complete!”’ 

Why the future of the Jew is of such deep concern to 
Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, he now explains. It is 
because his mission to the Gentiles is vitally related to 
his own countrymen. The more successful he can make 
his mission, the more faithfully he can discharge it, the 
greater will be the certainty that some Jews will be stirred 
to jealousy and be saved, and all who are saved go to 
make up that promised “‘fulness’’ of the Jews which will 
result in universal blessing. ‘‘For if the casting away”’ 
of the Jews, continues the apostle, has been the means of 
reconciling the world to God, by diverting the gospel to 
the Gentiles, in what will the restoration of Israel result 
but in a spiritual revival for all mankind, in a veritable 
‘life from the dead?”’ 

That there is to be such a national restoration of the 
Jews, Paul argues from their actual relationship to God. 
He employs two figures of speech. The “‘firstfruit’’ which 
is offered to God makes holy the entire mass from which 
it is taken; it indicates that the whole belongs to God. 
So, too, the root of a tree gives life and character to the 
branches, and ‘if the root is holy, so are the branches.” 
Vs. 11-16. 


Rom. 11:11-32 ISRAEL’S REJECTION 125 


Thus it is with Israel. The ancient patriarchs from which 
the race sprang belonged to God; they were chosen of him, 
and therefore the people which came from them were 
holy; they are the people of God, and in spite of temporary 
unbelief and rejection, they will yet appear in their real 
character and will manifest that relation to God which is 
theirs by right, and is in accordance with his changeless 
purpose. 

Is there not in all this a message of cheer and comfort 
for all those who have been “sanctified in Christ Jesus”’ 
and ‘“‘called to be saints?’’ Does not God show himself able 
to overrule for good even their failures and their faults, 
and when in penitence they are brought back to him, does 
he not use them in enlarging spheres of service, and make 
them of wider blessing to the world? 

Paul’s reference to the Jewish race as branches from a 
holy root might be employed by Gentile Christians as an 
argument to disprove the predicted restoration of Israel 
and as a ground for their own self-confidence, because the 
casting away of the Jews and the creation of a Gentile 
Church might indicate that this new people of God had 
permanently displaced rejected Israel. 

This is a very common misconception among Christians 
to-day. They disregard as visionary all predictions con- 
cerning the national future of Israel, and they appropriate 
to themselves all the blessings promised to the ancient 
people of God. 

All this Paul anticipates; and from the simile of the root 
and the branches he draws two special lessons: one of 
humility, for Gentile believers; another of hope, for Israel. 

The people of God, as forming one continuous body, 
according to a figure taken from the prophecy of Jeremiah, 
are pictured as “‘a green olive-tree, fair with goodly fruit.” 
The root, or stock, from which Jews and Gentiles all re- 
ceive their spiritual strength and nourishment is found in 
the patriarchs and other believers from whom the people 
of God have sprung. The branches are the individuals who 
derive their life from the body to which they belong. 
These branches are of two kinds: first, the original branches 
representing the Jews, some of which have been “cut off”’ 


126 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 11:11-32 


because of unbelief; and second, branches from a wild 
olive, which have been grafted in, representing the Gentile 
Church. Such grafting, Paul insists, is a wholly unnatural 
process. Shoots from a wild tree are never grafted into a 
cultivated stock; only the reverse process would produce 
good fruit. Paul has been’ accused of ignorance of horti- 
culture because of his suggesting such grafting as is ‘‘con- 
trary to nature’’; but that is the very point of his argu- 
ment. Gentile Christians are reminded that any virtues 
or blessings that-they possess are due wholly to the grace 
of God and not to any merit of their own. These favors 
have been received through faith and, at best, Gentile be- 
lievers only share a life drawn from a Jewish root. If 
Jewish branches ‘were broken off” that Gentile believers 
might be grafted in, this is no reason for pride and self- 
confidence on the part of these Gentiles. On the contrary, 
they should be warned, by the breaking off of the Jewish 
branches, of the peril of unbelief. At any time they them- 
selves may be cut off; it would be a much less violent 
process to break off the wild olive branches than it was to 
break off those which belonged originally to the cultivated 
tree. The Gentile Christians, therefore, should observe 
and take to heart the goodness of God shown toward 
themselves and the severity of God shown toward Israel, 
and they should be warned that such goodness can be 
enjoyed only by those who continue in faith, loyal to God 
and dependent upon his will. 

On the other hand, the second lesson is still more im- 
pressive, the lesson of hope for Israel. If the bringing of 
Gentiles into fellowship with the people of God was as 
unnatural as the grafting of wild olive branches into a 
cultivated stock, much more easily will God be able to 
restore to their original place these Jewish branches and 
to graft them into ‘‘their own olive tree.”’ Vs. 16-24. 

Such lessons are greatly needed to-day. What could be 
more unworthy or more unreasonable than for Gentile 
, Christians to despise unbelieving Jews? Christians have 
‘merely inherited the blessings which through Jews have 
_ been brought to the whole world. The words of Christ, 
' “Salvation is from the Jews,”’ should never be forgotten. 


Rhona st dies SRA LS IREJIECTION 127 


Nor must Gentile believers be skeptical about the con- 
version of Israel. The surprising thing is not that Jews can 
be brought back into the body of God’s true people; they 
have every spiritual and religious advantage. The strange 
thing is that Gentiles can be saved in spite of their in- 
heritance of pantheism and atheism and idolatry. The 
conversion of a heathen may be regarded as a marvel. 
What is more natural on the part of a Jew than his return 
to the real faith of his fathers and his acceptance of the 
Messiah predicted by his prophets, of the Redeemer who 
came first of all to save his own people? 

Paul now distinctly predicts the conversion of Israel. 
He indicates the importance of the event by using, to 
introduce his prediction, a characteristic phrase which he 
frequently employs for this purpose: ‘I would not, 
brethren, have you ignorant.’”’ He indicates further that 
this event has been divinely disclosed to him, for he 
describes it as a ‘‘mystery,’’ by which Paul always means 
a secret once hidden but now revealed. Still further he 
states his desire to have the Roman church know of this 
coming conversion of Israel, lest this church might be 
wise in its own conceits and might imagine that it was to 
retain permanently the religious supremacy of the world. 

How strangely the Roman Church still labors under 
that delusion, and how surprisingly Protestants imitate 
Rome in their appraisal of the Jew! The fact is, as Paul 
declares, that the unbelief of Israel is only partial: ‘‘a 
hardening in part hath befallen Israel’’; it is only tempo- 
rary: “‘until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in,’’ that 
is, until the “full complement of the Gentiles,” or the 
Gentile nations as a whole, are converted or brought into 
the Christian Church; and so, in consequence, all Israel 
shall be saved. 

Evidently Paul is speaking here of Israel as a nation; 
he is not referring to every individual Israelite; just as in 
speaking of the ‘‘fulness of the Gentiles’’ he does not mean 
to indicate every individual in the Gentile world. Nor 
yet does he refer to the dead; nor to those who are to die 
before this salvation of Israel comes to pass. Paul is 
speaking here of nations and he is pointing to a time when 


128 DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 11: 11-32 


Gentile kingdoms and the people of Israel shall be united 
in the blessings of a redeemed world. 

Paul confirms his prediction by a quotation from Isaiah, 
in which it is stated that a Deliverer ‘shall come out of 
Zion’’ who “shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob,’’ 
who will secure for Israel the benefits of a new covenant 
of grace and of forgiveness. Whether the reference here is 
to the first or the second coming of the Messiah is not 
made plain. The hope of Israel is in Christ, who surely 
has come and is.now giving deliverance from sin to all 
who put their trust in him. 

If Israel now especially seems to need such a deliverance, 
this should only make one more certain that the prophecy - 
will be fulfilled, for in the divine plan, according to which 
the good tidings of salvation have been preached, the Jews 
in their unbelief have been treated as enemies of God in 
order that Gentiles might be saved; but this does not alter 
the fact that the people of Israel are the chosen people of 
God, and ‘‘beloved for the fathers’ sake.’’ God has given 
them special blessings, he has called them to a high des- 
tiny, and he never revokes his choice. That there is a 
parallel in the case of the Gentile Church to the case of 
Israel, Paul further points out, and it is mentioned as a 
ground of universal hope. It was through Israel’s diso- 
bedience and rejection of the gospel that the mercy of 
God came to the Roman believers; even so, the mercy 
now shown to Gentile believers will be the occasion of 
Israel’s repentance and of Israel’s enjoyment of divine 
favor. In both cases God’s universal plan and purpose of 
salvation is being carried out. God, so to speak, has 
locked up in the prison house of hopeless unbelief and sin 
all mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, that he might show 
toward all in their absolute hopelessness his free and un- 
merited grace. This does not mean that Jews and Gentiles - 
are not responsible for the unbelief and sin which resulted 
in their helplessness and hopelessness; nor does it mean 
that ultimately every individual will be saved; nor yet 
that any individual is saved without faith. These truths 
are elsewhere safeguarded. Paul is here reaching the great 
climax of his epistle and is affirming not only that Israel 


Rom. 11:33-36 ISRAEL’S REJECTION 123 


is yet to be saved in spite of present unbelief and rejection 
but also that ultimately all nations are to be included in 
the blessings which by his mercy and grace God is pro- 
viding through Jesus Christ our Lord. Vs. 25-32. 


c. The Doxology. Ch. 11: 33-36 


33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the 
knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and 
his ways past tracing out! 34 For who hath known the mind 
of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 or who hath 
first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him 
again? 36 For of him, and through him, and unto him, are 
all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen. 


The doxologies which occur not infrequently in the 
Pauline Epistles are stately, majestic, sublime, and yet 
apparently quite spontaneous. They seem to arise natu- 
rally from the emotions of a heart stirred by the con- 
templation of the matchless grace and goodness of God. 
Thus when the apostle has clearly set forth the way of 
salvation which God has prepared in Jesus Christ for all 
mankind, when he has shown that men are justified freely, 
that the rejection is due to the fault of Israel, that this 
rejection has been overruled for the salvation of Gentiles 
and ultimately will give place to a national restoration 
which will result in universal blessing, no wonder that the 
survey of such a vast panorama of divine providence is 
succeeded by a hymn of praise to ‘‘the depth of the riches 
both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!” 

Possibly it is best to regard these great words as coérdi- 
nate and to read, as in the margin, ‘‘O the depth of the 
riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!” 
The riches of God would thus refer to ‘‘the wealth of love 
that enables God to meet, and far more than meet, the 
appalling necessities of the world.” 

In any case, “‘the wisdom and the knowledge”’ which 
Paul adores refer to God’s comprehensive view of all 
things and his penetrating perception of details, which 
enable him to adapt his love to all the forces and condi- 
tions of the world, even to failure and unbelief and sin, 
and to work out his plans and purposes of grace. 


130 © DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTIONS Rom. 11:33-36 


” 


His ‘“‘judgments,’’ whether of punishment or of salva- 
tion, are ‘“‘unsearchable”’; his ‘‘ways”’ of dealing with men 
are “‘past tracing out.” This is the reason for worship; 
this is the occasion for faith. We know only in part. 
However, if in one case, as in that of Israel, his mysterious 
providence has been vindicated, therefore in other cases, 
we can await his explanations and the ultimate demon- 
stration of his love. | 

Surely God’s ways are “past tracing out,” for, to quote 
from the Old Testament, no one has been his ‘‘counsellor’”’ 
so as to know how he would proceed to attain his purposes, 
and so rich is he that he needs nothing at the hands of 
man; all that he gives must be the expression of grace, as 
none can merit anything from him; and this is true be- 
cause in this vast universe, and specifically in the sphere 
of salvation, all things have their source in him, through 
him they flow as he upholds, rules, and directs; he is their 
final cause, their exalted goal; they serve his eternal pur- 
pose, his gracious ends. Therefore, ‘‘to him be the glory 
for ever.” 

This is the expression of a faith which trusts where it 
cannot understand, which loves when it cannot explain, 
which reasons wisely that nothing but good can ultimately 
come from God to those who accept the grace he has re- 
vealed in the gift of his Son, our Saviour and our Lord. 


oni, i222) AS MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH “131 


III. PracticaAaL ExHorTATIONS. Chs. 12:1 to 15:13 


A. AS MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH. Ch. 12 


1. The Appeal to Consecration. Ch. 12:1,2 


1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, 
to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to 
God, which is your spiritual service. 2 And be not fashioned 
according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renew- 
ing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and 
acceptable and perfect will of God. 


Paul always bases duty upon doctrine; he traces life to 
belief; he shows that character is determined by creed. 
Therefore, when in twelve chapters of his epistle he has 
set forth in logical fashion the great doctrines of the Chris- 
tian faith, he proceeds to give a series of practical exhorta- 
tions which indicate how Christian believers ought to live. 
These exhortations are in large measure summarized by a 
comprehensive appeal to consecration. Vs. 1, 2. This ap- 
peal is linked to the preceding portion of the epistle by a 
logical and significant connective, ‘‘therefore.’”’ ‘I beseech 
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,” writes 
the apostle. These ‘‘mercies of God’ point back to the 
statements that Christians have been justified by faith in 
Christ the Son, that they are being sanctified by the power 
of the Holy Spirit, and that they are to be glorified as 
heirs of God the Father. In view of such mercies comes 
the appeal to consecration. This is the real logic of Christi- 
anity. We do not serve God to win his favor but because 
we have received his favor we serve him in gratitude and 
love. 

This appeal to consecration is twofold. It is described 
as an act and an activity, as a crisis and a process, as a 
gift and a life. 

The act is pictured, in figures drawn from the Old 
Testament ritual, as a “‘sacrifice.’”’ V.1. Our bodies, and 
thus, too, our souls of which our bodies are agents and 


132 PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS “Rom iZaig 


instruments, are to be offered to God once for all in a 
definite act of self-dedication. This sacrifice is described 
as ‘living,’ in contrast with the ancient sacrifices the life 
of which was taken before the offering was placed upon 
the altar; in fact, our bodies and spirits are to be animated 
by the new life which comes from faith in Christ. This 
sacrifice is ‘holy,’ that is, “‘consecrated,”’ separated from 
sin, and separated unto the service of God. It is certain 
to be “‘acceptable to God,”’ like the rising in his presence 
of a “‘sweet savor”’ offering of old. Such a sacrifice is 
further described as a supreme form of religious service; 
it is ‘‘spiritual’’ in contrast with offerings which were 
merely material and physical; it is a ‘‘service,’’ that is, a 
cult or priestly ritual; in fact, such an act of consecration 
forms the most sublime of liturgies. 

This act, however, must be followed by an activity. 
This gift of self must issue in a life of service, this dedi- 
cation of the body must result in a transformation of 
character and in doing the will of God. V. 2. 

This new activity is described both negatively and posi- 
tively. One so consecrated to God must not be ‘‘ fashioned 
according to this world.” The phrase ‘‘this world,” or 
‘‘age,’’ pictures the sphere or form of life from which God 
is excluded, the spirit of which is selfishness, the prince of 
which is Satan. One who belongs to God must not be 
controlled by worldly precepts, by selfish motives, by 
sinful impulses. On the other hand, he must be “‘trans- 
formed”’ by accepting the will of Christ as the controlling 
principle of his life and by allowing the continual indwell- 
ing of the Spirit of Christ as the dominating power of his 
life. His character and conduct will not be determined by 
a mere imitation of Christ, but by the transforming energy 
of a divine, indwelling presence, irradiating his whole 
being. The supreme purpose of such a moral and spiritual 
transfiguration is that one may ‘“‘prove,”’ or find out by 
practical personal experience, what the will of God is, 
that is, what is in itself ‘‘good,’’ what is ‘‘acceptable”’ to 
God, what is ethically complete and “perfect.” 

Such a blessed experience, issuing from a true consecra- 
tion of self, should be enjoyed by everyone who has known 


Rom. 12:3-8 AS MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH 133 


the power of the gospel and has accepted the manifold 
mercies of God. 


2. The Exercise of Gifts. Ch. 12°: 3-8 


3 For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every 
man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly 
than he ought to think; but so to think as to think soberly, 
according as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith. 
4 For even as we have many members in one body, and all 
the members have not the same office: 5 so we, who are 
many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of 
another. 6 And having gifts differing according to the grace 
that was given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy 
according to the proportion of our faith; 7 or ministry, let us 
give ourselves to our ministry; or he that teacheth, to his 
teaching; 8 or he that exhorteth, to his exhorting: he that 
giveth, let him do it with liberality; he that ruleth, with 
diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfuness. 


Having made his comprehensive appeal for consecration 
of life, the apostle proceeds to indicate more in particular 
the duties which devolve upon Christians, and first of all 
he enjoins those which belong to them as members of the 
Church. He begins with an exhortation to humility in ex- 
ercising the different gifts and opportunities for service 
which are granted to believers. He intimates that such 
humility will be a natural result of true dedication to God. 
Such may be the force of the word ‘‘for”’ with which the 
exhortation opens; since if we have given ourselves wholly 
to God, and if all our talents and gifts for service are in- 
trusted to us by him, we may be expected to have a 
humble opinion of ourselves. 

Paul was himself an example of such humility as he gave 
this very advice, since he indicated that he did so “through 
the grace that was given” him. His authority asa teacher, 
his opportunity for advising his readers, were thus assigned 
by him to the goodness and grace of God, leaving no oc- 
casion of self-exaltation or pride. 

Toa similarly humble judgment of himself each member 
of the Church is exhorted; he is urged ‘‘not to think of 
himself more highly than he ought to think; but so to 
think as to think soberly’’; and surely each one needs 


134 PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS Rom. 12:3-8 


such an exhortation, for to himself each one is naturally 
the most important person in the world, and it is difficult 
to regard others with a due sense of moral proportion. 
Whatever differences exist must be due to a divine pro- 
vision, ‘“‘according as God hath dealt to each man a 
measure of faith.’”’ Thus, whatever estimates we place 
upon ourselves, all must be controlled by the humility 
which is inspired when we remember that we belong to 
God and that whatever we are and possess comes from him. 

A further safeguard against pride is found in the fact 
that in the Christian Church there is a wide variety of 
gifts; no one should expect to possess all the talents and 
to do all the work necessary for the life of the Church. 
As in the human body there are many members, each with 
its special function, so all believers, because of their com- 
mon relation to Christ, form one body in which each 
member has a definite place to fill and a special work to 
do. The gifts which are granted to the several members 
are to be exercised not with a view to securing praise or for 
gratifying vanity but for the benefit of the whole body. 

If one possesses the gift of prophecy, by which is meant 
not so much the ability to predict as the power of unfolding 
and preaching the revealed will of God, he should exercise 
this gift not in proud self-confidence or with vain endeavor 
to be original but within the limits of his own belief and 
in accordance with the faith God has granted him. 

One may have a special gift for ministering to the needs 
of his fellow Christians; another may have a gift for teach- 
ing spiritual truth; still another may find that his gift lies 
in the ability to speak words of wisdom and comfort. 

To one God gives a spirit of liberality, or of sincere un- 
selfishness which fits him for the work of supplying relief 
to those who are in need. To another is given the grace of 
diligence, or moral earnestness, to equip him for his sphere 
of leadership in the Church; to another is granted a spirit 
of cheerfulness, of joyfulness and sunny brightness, which 
qualifies him to visit the sick and the poar and the sor- 
rowing. 

However, each talent is to be applied, each gift is to be 
exercised, with a humble regard to the limits of one’s own 


Rom. 12:9-21 AS MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH = 135 


appointed task and with a desire to benefit others, for 
whose common good each gift is allotted and each talent 
is designed. 


3. The Manifestation of Love. Ch. 12 : 9-21 


9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; 
cleave to that which is good. 10 In love of the brethren be 
tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one 
another; 11 in diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; 
serving the Lord, 12 rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; 
continuing stedfastly in prayer; 13 communicating to the 
necessities of the saints, given to hospitality. 14 Bless them 
that persecute you; bless, and curse not. 15 Rejoice with 
them that rejoice; weep with them that weep. 16 Be of the 
same mind one toward another. Set not your mind on high 
things, but condescend to things that are lowly. Be not wise 
in your own conceits. 17 Render to no man evil for evil. 
Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. 
18 If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with 
all men. 19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place 
unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth 
unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. 20 But if thine 
enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for 
in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. 21 Be 
not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 


Having urged upon his readers the need of humility in 
the exercise of their various gifts, Paul next exhorts them 
to manifest love toward all their fellow members in the 
Church of Christ. It is true, the paragraph contains many 
related maxims for Christian living, but love seems to be 
the ruling thought. Thus humility, ‘the most beautiful 
flower in the Christian garden,”’ is linked here with charity, 
“which is the bond of perfectness.’’ This love must be 
“without hypocrisy,” unfeigned, neither hiding what one 
is nor pretending to be what one is not; and it must not 
countenance moral weakness or allow mutual indulgence; 
it should make one shrink in horror from ‘‘that which is 
evil’ and hold with determination to ‘‘ that which is good.”’ 

In the matter of love for fellow Christians, as toward 
brethren in the one family of God, there must be not only 
moral purity but also warm affection, with a real eager- 
ness to show honor each to the other. Zeal in Christian 


136 PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS Rom. 12:9-21 


service must not be allowed to flag. The “spiritual glow” 
must be maintained. The absorbing aim of life must be to 
serve the Lord Christ. The hope of future blessedness 
should be a source of joy even in the midst of severe per- 
secutions, which indeed must be endured with patience. 
Continual prayer, maintained with consistency and effort. 
will make such patience possible. Love must be shown 
further by sharing one’s goods with needy Christians, and 
by making a practice of showing hospitality. 

While such charity is to mark our attitude toward our 
fellow Christians, we are to show the same disposition 
toward all men. We must bless and not curse our perse- 
cutors. We must be sympathetic, quite as ready to rejoice 
with those who rejoice as we are to do the thing which is 
quite as easy, namely, to ‘‘weep with them that weep.” 

We must maintain a loving harmony with one another. 
Instead of cherishing selfish ambitions, we must give our- 
selves over to humble tasks. We must not be self-conceited. 

Even to our enemies we are not to repay evil for evil. 
We are so to live as not to provoke enmity, so to live that 
our conduct may commend itself as honorable to men; if 
possible we are to live at peace with all men, at any rate 
so far as concerns our own part. 

Even when wronged we are not to take revenge, but are 
to let the wrath of God have its way. He will right our 
wrongs; for we have the promise, ‘‘ Vengeance belongeth 
unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord.” 

On the contrary, as contrasted either with taking re- 
venge or resigning the case to the judgment of God, we 
must do as the Scripture bids, Prov. 25 : 21, 22: 


“Tf thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; 
And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: 
For thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head’’; 


by which is meant, ‘‘ You will make him feel that burning 
sense of shame and remorse which comes to one whose un- 
kindness is repaid by love.” In a word, do not let the evil 
done to you drive you to revenge, but overcome evil by 
the good you do to your adversary, transforming him from 
an enemy into a friend. 


Rom. 13:1-7 AS CITIZENS OF THE STATE 137 


BaeAS LCILIZENS Oe LubsStALE Ch a13 
1. Civil Duties. Ch. 13: 1-7 


1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for 
there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are 
ordained of God. 2 Therefore he that resisteth the power, 
withstandeth the ordinance of God: and they that withstand 
shall receive to themselves judgment. 3 For rulers are not a 
terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou 
have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou 
shalt have praise from the same: 4 for he is a minister of 
God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be 
afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a 
minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil. 
5 Wherefore ye must needs be in subjection, not only be- 
cause of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For for 
this cause ye pay tribute also; for they are ministers of God’s 
service, attending continually upon this very thing. 7 Render 
to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to 
whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. 


In the preceding chapter Paul has been pointing out to 
Christians their duty of showing humility and love as 
members of the Church; here he enforces the duty of 
loyalty as citizens of the State. The Church and the State 
occupy different spheres, according to the apostle, yet 
both are divine institutions. All attempts to combine the 
functions of Church and State lead to serious confusion. 
However, because he is a member of the Church, a Chris- 
tian is not free from his duties to the State, but rather is 
under obligation to perform these duties with the greater 
faithfulness. 

What local conditions may have led Paul to discuss 
the question of Christian citizenship is largely a matter of 
conjecture. Yet evidently it was necessary that the church 
in the Roman capital should not be misled by any false 
ideas as to the nature of the Kingdom of God, that it 
should not be allied with any movements which tended 
toward anarchy, insurrection, or rebellion. All Christians 
need to have a definite understanding of their right rela- 


138 PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS Rom. 13:1-7 


tion to the State, and to accept sound principles of Chris- 
tian politics. These principles were all included in the com- 
prehensive rule of the Master: ‘‘Render unto Cesar the 
things that are Cesar’s, and unto God the things that are 
God’s.’” Here Paul expands this rule in more detail and 
with more fullness than elsewhere in his writings, yet with 
marked sobriety, wisdom, and restraint. 

‘‘Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers,”’ 
writes the apostle. The duty of submission to civil authori- 
ties is thus without exception, no matter how high or 
privileged one’s social position may be, no matter what 
political theories one may hold, no matter what religious 
views one may profess. 

The reason for such individual and universal submission 
is found in the fact that civil government has its source in 
God: ‘‘The powers that be are ordained of God.’’ There- 
fore to resist the authorized officers of the government is 
to resist God, for they are his rightful representatives; 
and such resistance will receive condemnation, by human 
authorities and by divine sanction, for ‘they that with- 
stand shall receive to themselves judgment.” 

Another reason for submission to civil authorities is the 
beneficent aim of human government, ‘‘for rulers are not 
a terror to the good work, but to the evil.’’ Therefore one 
who conducts himself rightly need have no fear of civil 
officials, but one who is lawless in his behavior may well 
stand in dread, for ‘“‘the sword”’ as the symbol of power to 
punish, is not given to a ruler “in vain.’’ The ruler will 
inflict penalties when they are demanded and he will do 
so as an administrator of divine justice, ‘‘a minister of 
God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil.” 

Therefore obedience must be rendered to rulers not 
only as a matter of prudence but also as a matter of con- 
science, not only because it is dangerous to resist but also 
because it is right to submit to the representatives of God. 
We recognize this principle of the divine right of the 
State when we pay taxes for the support of its functions; 
as Paul declares, “‘For this cause ye pay tribute also; for 
they are ministers of God’s service.’’ Therefore Paul con- 
cludes his exhortation and prepares the way for the next 


Rom: 13:1-7 "AS CITIZENS: OK THE STATE 139 


paragraph by a general injunction which covers all the 
duties upon which he has been dwelling, ‘Render to all 
their dues’’; and he specifies four forms of such dues which 
have been interpreted as follows: “tribute’’ even to a 
foreign superior power; ‘‘custom’”’ for government support; 
“‘fear’’ or respectful awe for one in power; ‘‘honor’’ paid 
to a ruler. 

Therefore, the important principles of Christian citizen- 
ship set forth in this paragraph include the conceptions 
that one has obligations to the State in addition to his ob- 
ligations to the Church; that human government isa divine 
institution; that its purpose is beneficent, two of its main 
functions being to protect and help those who do right and 
to restrain and punish evildoers; and therefore that loyalty 
to civil authorities is the duty of every follower of Christ. 

In this connection, however, two or three observations 
should be made: 

First, no particular form of government is hereby com- 
mended or advocated by the apostle. Almost any form is 
better than anarchy, and inso far is worthy of loyal support. 

Second, loyalty does not preclude endeavors to improve 
a government; nor does it forbid one from raising the ques- 
tion as to whether a particular officer or group of officers 
rightly represents a government. There is such a thing as 
the divine right of the State, but there is also a divine 
right of revolution. Paul, however, is stating a San 
principle for normal conditions. 

Third, one must be loyal to the government even in 
spite of the character of the civil rulers, who may be 
selfish, arbitrary, oppressive, and immoral men. Paul 
urged loyalty to Nero. The Roman Government was a 
benefit to mankind in spite of the Cesars. 

Fourth, one must not disobey conscience in submitting 
to civil government. Without being a rebel he can refuse 
to do what he regards as wrong, but he must patiently 
endure the penalty. 

Fifth, while duties to the Church are distinct from duties 
to the State, the performance of either is equally binding 
upon a Christian. The payment of a tax may be as real an 
expression of spiritual life as the offering of a public prayer. 


140 PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS Rom. 13:8-11 


2. The Animating Principle of Love. Ch. 13 : 8-10 

8 Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he 
that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, 
Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou 
shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any 
other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 10 Love worketh no 
ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfilment of the law. 


After insisting upon loyalty to the officials of the State, 
Paul proceeds to enforce the principle of love, which must 
control the relations of a Christian toward all his fellow 
citizens in the State. He has been saying that one must 
pay every lawful obligation to the government; he now 
reminds his readers that one must also pay every just 
debt to his neighbor; but that there is one obligation 
which he must continue paying, even though it can never 
be discharged fully, namely, the debt of love. ‘‘Owe no 
man anything, save to love one another.” 

The reason why love is of so great importance consists 
in the fact that love is the fulfillment of all law, and law 
is the very foundation of the State. Paul has just shown 
that no Christian is exempt from loyalty; he is declaring 
that one who loves his neighbor will not injure his neighbor, 
but will fulfill toward him all that the law demands. One 
who loves will not borrow from a neighbor that which he 
cannot repay; he will not wrong his neighbor by adultery, 
theft, murder, or covetousness. In fact, all special pre- 
cepts are summarized in that of love; so that love becomes 
for a Christian the great principle which takes the place 
of law, and yet which makes possible the fulfillment of 
law. So it is that every conceivable moral requirement is 
summed up in this one New Testament commandment, 
“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’’ It is evident, 
then, that if one has the same regard for the welfare and 
happiness of his neighbor as he has toward his own, he 
will work ‘‘no ill to his neighbor’’; he will fulfill inevitably 
all that the law requires and all that love demands. 


3. The Purifying Motive of Hope. Ch. 13 : 11-14 


11 And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for 
you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us 


Rom. 13:12-14 -AS CITIZENS OF THE STATE 141 


than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, and 
the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of 
darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us 
walk becomingly, as in the day; not in revelling and drunken- 
ness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and 
jealousy. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make 
not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof, 


To enforce the duties on which he has been dwelling the 
apostle now appeals to the hope of the completed salva- 
tion which Christians are to enjoy at the return of Christ: 
“And this [do],” particularly this continual paying of the 
debt of love, ‘knowing [as you do] the season,”’ the definite 
period marked out by the Master as preceding his return, 
“that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep.”’ 

In view of the coming of the Lord, the readers are ex- 
horted to arouse themselves from all spiritual indifference 
because their perfected salvation, when they are to be 
glorified with Christ, is nearer than when they first be- 
lieved on him. Paul seems to borrow his figures of speech 
from the actions of a Roman soldier who, as the dawn 
approached, awoke from slumber, laid aside the garments 
in which he had been sleeping, put on his gleaming armor, 
and stepped forth gladly to greet the day. Paul declares 
that his readers should regard the night of their distress 
and sorrow as nearly passed and the day of their deliver- 
ance and glory as about to dawn. They should cast off 
the deeds and habits which belong to the unbelieving 
world and to the kingdom of darkness. They should put 
on the bright armor of the Christian soldier, the matchless 
“armor of God.” They should go forth to walk worthily 
of their heavenly calling. Avoiding all intemperance, im- 
purity, and unkindness, they should identify themselves 
wholly with Christ in every purpose and act, putting on 
his perfectness of character, and making no provision for 
gratifying the sensual desires and appetites by which they 
were formerly controlled. They should so live that with 
gladness they could greet their returning Lord. 


142 PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS Rom. 14:1-12 


C. QUESTIONS OF CONSCIENCE. Chs. 14:1 to 15: 13 


1. Do Not Judge Others. Ch. 14: 1-12 


1 But him that is weak in faith receive ye, yet not for 
decision of scruples. 2 One man hath faith to eat all things: 
but he that is weak eateth herbs. 3 Let not him that eateth 
set at nought him that eateth not; and let not him that eateth 
not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. 4 
Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own 
lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; 
for the Lord hath power to make him stand. 5 One man 
esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every 
day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. 
6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord: and 
he that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for he giveth God 
thanks; and he that eateth not, unto the Lord he eateth not, 
and giveth God thanks. 7 For none of us liveth to himself, 
and none dieth to himself. 8 For whether we live, we live 
unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord: 
whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to 
this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord 
of both the dead and the living. 10 But thou, why dost thou 
judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou set at 
nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judg- 
ment-seat of God. 11 For it is written, 

As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, 

And every tongue shall confess to God. 

12 So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God. 


Some things are unquestionably right, and others are 
as unquestionably wrong, but there are still others as to 
which the consciences of men differ. These ‘‘questions of 
conscience’’ arise among Christians and become the 
sources of serious trouble. Christians who are overscrupu- 
lous are apt to condemn others as lax or “inconsistent,” 
while those who feel no scruples as to the practices in 
question are tempted to despise their fellow Christians as 
bigoted or fanatical or narrow. 

As to these questions which concern matters morally 


Rom. 14:1-12 QUESTIONS OF CONSCIENCE 143 


indifferent, Paul lays down three great principles: Do not 
judge others, ch. 14 : 1-12; do not tempt others, ch. 14: 
13-23; follow Christ’s example of forbearance and love, 
eh? loisd-13, 

One ‘that is weak in faith,’’ who does not grasp the 
full meaning of salvation by grace, who thinks that his 
keeping certain rules as to food or religious rites will make 
him more acceptable to God, is to be received into the 
Church, but is not to be argued with as to his scruples. V. 1. 
One man may understand that eating or refraining from 
certain wholesome foods is a matter of moral indifference; 
another man may believe that he will be more pleasing to 
God if he eats only vegetables. V. 2. 

However, neither is to judge the other. The one who 
eats foods of all kinds is not to despise the other; and the 
one who eats only vegetables is not to condemn the first, 
but to remember that God has received him as his servant, 
and therefore, as it would be improper to intrude into the 
household affairs of another person and to pass judgment 
upon his servants, so we as Christians are not to pass 
judgment upon our fellow Christians, who are not our 
servants but are servants of God. Each one is responsible 
to his Lord, and the overscrupulous brother must feel no 
anxiety for the one who indulges in food from which he 
himself refrains. His Lord will keep the less scrupulous 
brother from falling and not allow his innocent indulgence 
to prove for him a fatal snare. Vs. 3, 4. 

So, too, one man regards certain days as particularly 
holy, while another regards all days alike, excepting of 
course the Sabbath Day. There is no exact rule as to the 
observance of such ‘‘holy”’ days, or holidays. Each one 
must be certain as to what he regards to be right. He must 
do what he thinks will please his Master. Whether in keep- 
ing holy days or in partaking or refraining from food, his 
actions must be regulated by this great principle of the 
lordship of Christ. Whether living or dying we recognize 
him as Lord, and belong to him, who by his dying for us 
and by his living again has become the Lord of the dead 
and the living. Vs. 5-9. 

Why, then, should one of us condemn his brother as lax 


144 PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS Rom. 14:13-23 


and inconsistent, or why should another of us despise his 
brother as narrow and bigoted, since we all are to stand 
before the divine judgment seat, as indeed Isaiah pre- 
dicted: ‘‘As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall 
bow.”’ Let us, therefore, as fellow Christians, servants of 
the same Lord, refrain from judging one another, particu- 
larly in matters of moral indifference, since ‘“‘each one of 
us shall give account of himself to God.”’ Vs. 10-12. 


2. Do Not Tempt Others. Ch. 14 : 13-23 


13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but 
judge ye this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock in his 
brother’s way, or an occasion of falling. 14 I know, and am 
persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself: 
save that to him who accounteth anything to be unclean, to 
him it is unclean. 15 For if because of meat thy brother is 
grieved, thou walkest no longer in love. Destroy not with 
thy meat him for whom Christ died. 16 Let not then your 
good be evil spoken of: 17 for the kingdom of God is not 
eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in 
the Holy Spirit. 18 For he that herein serveth Christ is well- 
pleasing to God, and approved of men. 19 So then let us 
follow after things which make for peace, and things whereby 
we may edify one another. 20 Overthrow not for meat’s sake 
the work of God. All things indeed are clean; howbeit it is 
evil for that man who eateth with offence. 21 It is good not 
to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to do anything whereby thy 
brother stumbleth. 22 The faith which thou hast, have thou 
to thyself before God. Happy is he that judgeth not himself 
in that which he approveth. 23 But he that doubteth is con- 
demned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; and what- 
soever is not of faith is sin. 


It has just been shown that we are not to despise or to 
condemn others for their attitude toward things which 
are morally indifferent, such as the eating of various kinds 
of food or the observance of certain days as holy. On the 
other hand, as Paul teaches in this paragraph, we must 
have a due regard for the consciences and the convictions 
of others. We may feel certain that for us a certain prac- 
tice is quite innocent, yet we may conclude that it is wise 
for us to give it up, lest it may offend others or lead them 
to do what their own consciences forbid. We have the 


Rom. 14:13-23 QUESTIONS OF CONSCIENCE 145 


right to do anything which we believe to be innocent; yet 
the greatest right is that of relinquishing a right for the 
sake of others. Even indulgence which in itself may not 
be wrong may be sinful if it causes others distress or if it 
leads others astray. Such, in substance, is the message 
which Paul here presents. Vs. 13-23. 

In view of the future judgment of God, let us not judge 
one another, but rather let it be our determination that 
we shall put nothing in the way of a brother which will 
make him stumble or fall. V. 13. 

It is true that the old ceremonial distinctions between 
clean and unclean foods are no longer in force; but if a 
man does not understand this and regards certain food as 
“‘unclean,’’ then, so far as his conscience is concerned, 
that food is unclean and he does wrong to partake of it. 
If then he sees you eat such food, and is thus led to do the 
same, you may be leading him into sin and may be destroy- 
ing one “for whom Christ died.’”’ Vs. 14, 15. Christian 
liberty and your freedom from scruples may become an 
occasion for reproach in leading others to do what they 
regard as wrong. 

It is not important that you should eat and drink every- 
thing that you desire and that you regard as right; self- 
denial for the sake of others may be far more necessary. 
In “the kingdom of God”’ the essential things are not 
“eating and drinking’’; these are relatively trivial and 
insignificant; the important things are “‘righteousness”’ 
in our relations to others, and the ‘‘ peace and joy’’ which 
result from true spiritual fellowship. A life lived with 
these essential Christian realities in view will be “well- 
pleasing to God, and approved of men.’”’ Vs. 16-18. 

So, then, in these comparatively unimportant matters, 
let us determine our actions by doing what will make for 
peace and will be helpful to others. Merely for the sake 
of eating some kind of food’ which we prefer, or indulging 
in some questionable practice which we regard as harm- 
less, we should not ‘‘overthrow”’ the work of grace which 
God has begun in the soul of some more scrupulous brother; 
for while the matter in question may be morally indifferent, 
it is really wrong for the one who regards it as wrong and 


146 PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS Rom. 15:1-7 


who violates his conscience by doing the very thing you 
regard as innocent. Vs. 19, 20. 

The great rule, therefore, is this, whatever self-sacrifice 
may be involved: ‘It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink 
wine, nor to do anything whereby thy brother stumbleth.”’ 
Nek 

If one has such a clear conviction of Christian truth that 
he is free from all unnecessary scruples, he should not make 
a display of his conscious liberty, particularly not in such 
a way as to offend or tempt a weaker or less intelligent 
brother. He should cherish such faith alone with God. 
Happy is the man who feels no rebuke of conscience when 
indulging in those practices as to which the consciences of 
Christians definitely differ. V. 22. 

On the other hand, if one is troubled by scruples, and 
doubts whether it is right for him to do what he sees other 
Christians doing, then weakly to comply with such others 
is to incur condemnation; for his act does not result from 
faith in Christ and from an intelligent knowledge of the 
freedom which true faith secures; he is doing what he 
thinks may be morally wrong; and anything which we do 
not believe to be morally right is sinful. V. 23. 

Thus Paul warns us that we may tempt others to sin 
even when we are doing something which we regard as 
innocent; and that, on the other hand, we may sin in doing 
that which others regard as harmless but which our own 
consciences do not heartily approve. 


3. Follow the Example of Christ. Ch. 15: 1-13 


1 Now we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of 
the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each one of us 
please his neighbor for that which is good, unto edifying. 3 
For Christ also pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The 
reproaches of them that reproached thee fell upon me. 4 For 
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for 
our learning, that through patience and through comfort of 
the scriptures we might have hope. 5 Now the God of 
patience and of comfort grant you to be of the same mind 
one with another according to Christ Jesus: 6 that with one 
accord ye may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Wherefore receive ye one another, 


Rom. 15:8-13 QUESTIONS OF CONSCIENCE 147 


“even as Christ also received you, to the glory of God. 8 For 
I say that Christ hath been made a minister of the circum- 
cision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises 
given unto the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify 
God for his mercy; as it is written, 

Therefore will I give praise unto thee among the Gentiles, 

And sing unto thy name. 
10 And again he saith, 

Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with tis people. 
11 And again, 

Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; 

And let all the peoples praise him. 
12 And again, Isaiah saith, 

There shall be the root of Jesse, 

And he that ariseth to rule over the Gentiles; 

On him shall the Gentiles hope. 
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in 
believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the 
Holy Spirit. 


Paul is still considering the two classes into which Chris- 
tians are divided by questions of conscience, that is, by 
their attitude towards matters which, while not in them- 
selves sinful, are regarded by one class as right and by 
another class as wrong. There are those who are “weak”’ 
or defective in faith, who consequently magnify ritual re- 
quirements into ‘moral obligations; or, they look upon 
pleasures as sinful; or, they believe they can make them- 
selves more acceptable to God by denying themselves 
things absolutely innocent. 

In the preceding chapter the apostle has urged the 
““weak’’ not to condemn the strong, and the ‘“‘strong”’ 
not to tempt or needlessly offend the ‘‘weak.’’ Here he 
enjoins both classes to show mutual forbearance and love, 
following the example of Christ as set forth in the Scrip- 
tures, that all may be united in harmonious praise. Thus, 
too, should be brought together the two great divisions of 
the church, the Jew and the Gentile. Christ has received 
both; they should receive each other and await in joyous 
confidence the consummation of their glorious hopes in 
Christ. 

“Now we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities 


148 PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS® (Romito siete 


of the weak,’’ of those whose faith is defective, of those 
who are overscrupulous and narrow, and bigoted and 
childish. We ought “not to please ourselves,’ but to 
please each one his neighbor with a view to his moral good 
and his spiritual growth. Our great Exemplar, Christ, 
‘pleased not himself,’ but endured the greatest abuse 
and unkindness from the most bigoted and unreasonable 
men; as we read in the Scriptures, ‘‘The reproaches of 
them that reproached thee fell upon me.”’ 

The purpose of the Scripture is to give us instruction 
and so make us patient and hopeful. May God grant that 
all who have differences in the Church may follow the ex- 
ample of Christ and so manifest his spirit that with ‘‘one 
accord’’ they may ‘‘glorify the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ”! 

Therefore, whatever may divide us, even though some 
are Jews and some Gentiles, let us receive one another as 
Christ received us. He came to show to the Jews the 
fidelity of God to his promises, and to show to the Gentiles 
the wonders of his grace, as passage after passage in the 
Old Testament shows. We surely should be ready to live 
in unity as members of the great body of the redeemed, 
for the very purpose of God was to unite all peoples in 
one great harmony of praise to his goodness and mercy 
in Christ Jesus. May the God of all hope grant that our 
faith may issue in a life of such joy and peace that by the 
power of the Holy Spirit we ‘may abound in hope”’! 


Rom. 15: 14-21 REASONS FOR WRITING 149 


1Va HE - CONCLUSION, * Ghe! 15':14 to 16.::27 


A. PAUL’S REASONS FOR WRITING. Ch. 15 : 14-21 


14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, 
that ye yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowl- 
edge, able also to admonish one another. 15 But I write the 
more boldly unto you in some measure, as putting you again 
in remembrance, because of the grace that was given me of 
God, 16 that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus unto the 
Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up 
of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, being sanctified 
by the Holy Spirit. 17 I have therefore my glorying in Christ 
Jesus in things pertaining to-God. 18 For I will not dare to 
speak of any things save those which Christ wrought through 
me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19 
in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy 
Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and round about even unto 
Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ; 20 yea, 
making it my aim so to preach the gospel, not where Christ 
was already named, that I might not build upon another man’s 
foundation; 21 but, as it is written, 

They shall see, to whom no tidings of him came, 
And they who have not heard shall understand. 


In bringing his epistle to a close, Paul first gives his 
reasons for writing to the Romans. This he does with 
notable courtesy and modesty and tact. He has written 
not because of any particular lack on their part but be- 
cause of his special interest in them, since he is the apostle 
to the Gentiles and naturally has upon his heart the Chris- 
tians who are living in the great imperial capital of the 
Gentile world. 

He is persuaded that they are ‘“‘full of goodness’’ and 
well instructed in the gospel and so quite capable of ad- 
monishing one another. Nevertheless he has written, 
even with considerable boldness and frankness, not so 
much to tell them new truths as to remind them of those 
they had already received. With such humility does Paul 
refer to a letter which sets forth with inspired impressive- 


150 THE CONCLUSION Rom. 15: 14-21 


ness the most profound truths ever entertained by the 
human mind. He explains that he has made bold to write 
these truths to them because God has appointed him to 
be ‘‘a minister of Jesus Christ unto the Gentiles.’’ This 
ministry Paul describes in figures borrowed from the 
Jewish ritual. Preaching the gospel is his priestly service, 
and its great purpose is that Gentile believers will be so 
transformed by its power that they will become an offering 
which he can present, acceptable to God, ‘‘being sancti- 
fied by the Holy Spirit.”’ 

This ministry, as exercised by Paul, is a just ground of 
pride, although he gives all the glory to Christ. He has 
been widely used in bringing Gentiles to obey God, his 
“word and deed” having been attested by miraculous 
‘signs and wonders”’ wrought by the Holy Spirit, so that 
he had ‘fully preached the gospel of Christ,”’ from Jeru- 
salem to Illyricum, on the west of Macedonia. His one 
great purpose, his point of honor, his ambition, ever had 
been to preach the gospel where Christ had not been 
named, that he ‘‘might not build upon another man’s 
foundation’’; and he describes this aim in words borrowed 
from Isaiah when picturing the astonishment of the na- 
tions as they learn of the suffering Servant of Jehovah: 


“They shall see, to whom no tidings of him came, 
And they who have not heard shall understand.” 


Romy 19:22-339 ePAUL'S PERSONAL: PLANS 151 


B. PAUL’S PERSONAL PLANS. Ch. 15 : 22-33 


22 Wherefore also I was hindered these many times from 
coming to you: 23 but now, having no more any place in these 
regions, and having these many years a longing to come unto 
you, 24 whensoever I go unto Spain (for I hope to see you in 
my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by 
you, if first in some measure I shall have been satisfied with 
your company)—25 but now, J say, I go unto Jerusalem, 
ministering unto the saints. 26 For it hath been the good 
pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribu- 
tion for the poor among the saints that are at Jerusalem. 27 
Yea, it hath been their good pleasure; and their debtors they 
are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their 
spiritual things, they owe it to them also to minister unto 
them in carnal things. 28 When therefore I have accom- 
plished this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will go on 
by you unto Spain. 29 And I know that, when I come unto 
you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of Christ. 

_ 30 Now I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me 
in your prayers to God for me; 31 that I may be delivered 
from them that are disobedient in Judza, and that my 
ministration which J have for Jerusalem may be acceptable 
to the saints; 32 that I may come unto you in joy through the 
will of God, and together with you find rest. 33 Now the God 
of peace be with you all. Amen. 


Paul has been glorying in the ministry which is his as 
the chosen apostle to the Gentiles; but he realizes that, in 
spite of its wide scope, its labors are comparatively unful- 
filled; he always had his eyes fixed on “the regions be- 
yond,” and he proceeds to tell his friends in Rome of his 
wide-reaching plans. Their city, the great imperial capital, 
has for years been the goal of his ambition. However, he 
has been hindered from coming to them hitherto by his 
work in regions farther east; but now this work is so far 
completed that he can carry out a long-cherished purpose 
of preaching the gospel in Spain, and on the way he will 
visit Rome and enjoy the spiritual refreshment of fellow- 


152 THE CONCLUSION Rom. 15: 22-33 


ship with the friends to whom he is writing, and by them 
be helped forward on his journey to the West. 

First, however, he must go in exactly the opposite direc- 
tion; hemust starteastward tocarry relief to the needy Chris- 
tians in Jerusalem. He is taking a ‘‘certain contribution” 
from the churches of Macedonia and Achaia. It had been 
a voluntary offering made with pleasure, yet it was, in a 
sense, the payment of a debt, for the Gentile churches 
owed to the Christians in Jerusalem all their spiritual 
blessings, and they could meet this indebtedness only by 
ministering to them in things temporal. In this offering 
Paul had shown the deepest interest, not only because he 
had promised such aid and because it was to relieve his 
own fellow countrymen, but also because such an ex- 
pression of charity would help to bind together Jews and 
Gentiles into one sympathetic body. 

When Paul has fulfilled this mission, he promises to 
come to Rome and to pass onward to Spain. He feels 
assured that his coming will result in a special manifesta- 
tion of grace: he will come ‘‘in the fulness of the blessing 
of Christ.” 

Paul realizes, however, the perils and the difficulties 
which await him, and therefore he closes this outline of 
his personal plans with an earnest request that the Roman 
Christians will unite in prayers on his behalf. He beseeches 
them by the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the brotherly love 
which his Spirit inspires in believers, that they will unite 
with him ‘‘in an intense energy of prayer’’ that he may be 
delivered from the unbelieving Jews, who were always his 
bitterest foes, and also that the peace offering of the Gen- 
tile churches may prove acceptable to the Jewish Chris- 
tians of whose narrow prejudices Paul was well aware. 
Should these united prayers be answered, then Paul would 
come to his Roman friends with joy and find rest and re- 
freshment in their fellowship. To this request for prayer 
Paul adds a petition of his own. In its mention of “ peace”’ 
it sounds a keynote of the epistle, it voices a deep yearning 
of every heart: ‘‘Now the God of peace be with you all. 
Amen.” 


Rom. 16:1,2 COMMENDATION OF PHQ@BE (les 


C. THE COMMENDATION OF PHBE. Ch. 16:1, 2 


1 Icommend unto you Phebe our sister, who is a servant 
of the church that is at Cenchrez: 2 that ye receive her in 
the Lord, worthily of the saints, and that ye assist her in 
whatsoever matter she may have need of you: for she her- 
self also hath been a helper of many, and of mine own self. 


It has been commonly assumed that Phoebe was the 
bearer of this letter from Corinth to Rome. There is noth- 
ing to prove this, as no other mention of Phoebe is made 
elsewhere; but it properly has been called ‘‘a supposition 
which there is nothing to contradict.” 

Even more uncertain is the assumption that Phoebe was 
a deaconess. It is true that this office was established in 
the Christian Church at a rather early date, but the word 
translated ‘‘servant,’’ sometimes rendered ‘‘deaconess,’’ 
may denote merely the charity and hospitality which 
should characterize the life of every true Christian and 
which seem to have been exhibited by Phoebe in a marked 
degree. 

She was a member of the church at Cenchree, the port 
of Corinth, nine miles east of that city. The apostle of- 
ficially ‘‘commends”’ or introduces her to the church at 
Rome, urging that she be received “in the Lord”’ and in 
a manner worthy of Christians, implying not only that 
her needs be supplied but also that she be granted every 
spiritual privilege. Furthermore, Paul bespeaks for her 
assistance in whatsoever matter she may have need, pos- 
sibly indicating that she was going to Rome on business 
in which they could afford her special help. 

This cordial commendation was given in view of the 
fact that Phoebe had ‘‘been a helper of many” and of 
Paul himself. The term ‘“‘helper’’ is almost the same as 
“‘patroness’’ and intimates that the one so designated was 
possibly a person of some wealth and social position. Just 
how this woman had befriended Paul and his fellow Chris- 
tians is not stated, but surely his courteous and gracious 
commendation has given to her a place of imperishable 
fame. 


154 THE CONCLUSION Rom, 16: 3-16 


D. PAUL’S GREETINGS TO THE ROMANS. Ch. 16 : 3-16 


3 Salute Prisca and Aquila my fellow-workers in Christ 
Jesus, 4 who for my life laid down their own necks; unto 
whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the 
Gentiles: 5 and salute the church that is in their house. 
Salute Epznetus my beloved, who is the firstfruits of Asia 
unto Christ. 6 Salute Mary, who bestowed much labor on 
you. 7 Salute Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen, and my 
fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who 
also have been in Christ before me. 8 Salute Ampliatus my 
beloved in the Lord. 9 Salute Urbanus our fellow-worker in 
Christ, and Stachys my beloved. 10 Salute Apelles the 
approved in Christ. Salute them that are of the household of 
Aristobulus. 11 Salute Herodion my kinsman. Salute them 
of the househoid of Narcissus, that are in the Lord. 12 Salute 
Tryphzena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute 
Persis the beloved, who labored much in the Lord. 13 Salute 
Rufus the chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 14 
Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and 
the brethren that are with them. 15 Salute Philologus and 
Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints 
that are with them. 16 Salute one another with a holy kiss. 
All the churches of Christ salute you. 


This list of obscure names is of great value and of true 
significance. It gives an aspect of reality and deep human 
interest to the whole epistle, and its accompanying phrases 
indicate that Christian doctrines were bearing fruit in the 
lives of those to whom they had been proclaimed. 

These greetings reveal the heart of Paul, showing his ten- 
der affection, his appreciation of kindness, his warm sym- 
pathy, and his high valuation of human friendships. They 
give instructive glimpses of the life of the Early Church, 
enabling us to form a picture of its close fellowships, its 
heroic sufferings, its generous sympathies, its purity, its 
devotion, its faith, its hope, its love. 

Of all these names the only ones which are familiar are 
those of Prisca and Aquila, the friends with whom Paul 
had lived in Corinth, who more recently seem to have 


‘Rom. 16:3-16 GREETINGS TO THE ROMANS 155 


saved the life of Paul at great hazard, for his sake having 
“laid down their necks.” They were only tentmakers, but 
their wide travel and their intelligent testimony for Christ 
made them deserving of thanks from ‘‘all the churches of 
the Gentiles.’’ To them Paul sends his greeting, and also 
to the believers in Rome who met at their home for Chris- 
tian worship. 

The rest of the names here mentioned appear in no other 
place. Most of them seem to be those of slaves or freed- 
men; but these men and women, not recognized by the 
world, have attained glory enough by being known through 
all the passing centuries as friends of Paul and followers 
of Christ. 

The apostle closes his salutation to the Christians in 
Rome by urging them to ‘“‘salute one another with a holy 
kiss.’ It was an Oriental and particularly a Jewish custom 
to combine a kiss with a greeting; here, however, Paul 
does not mean merely a token of friendship: nor yet is he 
establishing “the kiss of peace’’ as a permanent ordinance 
or regular part.of the Christian religious service. He only 
intended that, when his letter had been heard and his salu- 
tations received, they should greet one another as fellow 
members of the Church. 

When Paul now adds, ‘‘All the churches of Christ salute 
you,” he is using a general expression; however, he indi- 
cates his wide acquaintance with the churches, and the 
deep interest which all felt in the welfare of the church at 
Rome. 


156 THE CONCLUSION Rom. 16: 17-20 


E. A WARNING AGAINST FALSE TEACHERS. Ch. 16: 17-20 


17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them that are caus- 
ing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the 
doctrine which ye learned: and turn away from them. 18 For 
they that are such serve not our Lord Christ, but their own 
belly; and by their smooth and fair speech they beguile the 
hearts of the innocent. 19 For your obedience is come 
abroad unto all men. I rejoice therefore over you: but I 
would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple 
unto that which is evil. 20 And the God of peace shall bruise 
Satan under your feet shortly. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 


It is not unnatural, as the epistle is brought to a close, 
and just after Paul has referred to the other Christian 
churches, that he should add a solemn warning against 
false teachers. He remembers what subtle and corrupting 
heresies have appeared among other bodies of believers, 
and he fears lest they may cause divisions and scandals 
among the Christians at Rome. He therefore urges his 
readers to “mark’’ and avoid such as may attempt to 
teach doctrines contrary to the gospel as it has been re- 
ceived by the Romans and as it has been set forth with 
such fullness and power in this epistle. 

From such teachers Christians are to “turn away,” be- 
cause instead of being servants of Christ such are servants 
of their own appetites and of their own selfish interests, 
and by their plausible and flattering speech they are able 
to deceive the hearts of the guileless and unwary. From 
the pestilent influence of such teachers the Roman Chris- 
tians were still free. The fame of their loyalty was every- 
where reported. Therefore Paul rejoices over them; never- 
theless he is anxious, and he is desirous that ‘‘ their moral 
intelligence should not be impaired in the least by any 
dealings with evil,” but that they might be ‘experts in 
good and innocents in evil.”’ 

False teachers, whom as the agents of evil Paul identifies 
with Satan, may come and cause dissensions, but soon, by 


Rom. 16: 17-20 FALSE TEACHERS 157 


the Spirit of God, victory will be secured and peace re- 
stored; at least, this seems to be the meaning of Paul’s 
promise, ‘“‘And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under 
your feet shortly.” 

So Paul closes this warning with a benediction: ‘‘ The 
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”’ 


158 THE CONCLUSION Rom. 16: 21-23 


F. GREETINGS FROM PAUL’S COMPANIONS. Ch. 16 : 21-23 


21 Timothy my fellow-worker saluteth you; and Lucius and 
Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who write 
the epistle, salute you in the Lord. 23 Gaius my host, and of 
the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the treasurer of the 
city saluteth you, and Quartus the brother. 


The letter seems to come to a close with the preceding 
paragraph, but now are added these salutations from 
Paul’s friends and companions. It has been suggested 
that the letter, before being sent to Rome, was first read 
at a Christian gathering in Corinth, and that the greetings 
to the Roman church were appended at the request of 
these who are named. 

First among them is Timothy, Paul’s beloved “fellow- 
worker,” his ‘‘child in the faith,’’ his comrade on perilous 
journeys, his comfort in long imprisonments, and his 
deputy on difficult missions—a man who, as few others, 
knew the fullness and joy of the apostle’s affection and 
love, 

Lucius and Jason and Sosipater are difficult to identify; 
but Paul calls them his kinsmen, meaning probably his 
fellow countrymen, men who were of Jewish birth. Tertius, 
the amanuensis, by whom the letter is being written, adds 
his own greeting. 

Then Gaius is mentioned, one who was at the time the 
host of the apostle; him Paul describes as being the host 
‘of the whole church,”’ meaning either that the Christians 
were wont to meet in his house for worship or that he ex- 
tended his hospitality to all Christians who came as 
strangers to Corinth. 

Erastus, the city treasurer, sends his greeting, together 
with that of Quartus whom Paul designates ‘“‘the brother.”’ 
That an official holding so important a position as that of 
treasurer in the great city of Corinth was numbered among 
the Christian brotherhood shows that some men of promi- 
nence and power were members of that Church in which 
Paul declared that there were ‘‘not many mighty” and 
“not many noble.”’ 


Rom. 16: 25-27 THE DOXOLOGY 159 


G. THE DOXOLOGY. Ch. 16: 25-27 


25 Now to him that is able to establish you according to my 
gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the 
revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence 
through times eternal, 26 but now is manifested, and by the 
scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of 
the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto 
obedience of faith: 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus 
Christ, to whom be the glory for ever. Amen. 


While Paul has given us many other superb doxologies, 
they are found in the body and not at the conclusion of 
his letters. This magnificent ascription of praise sums up 
the great thoughts of the epistle and is in perfect harmony 
with its contents. In particular, it should be noted how 
this closing paragraph reéchoes the notes sounded in the 
opening verses of the epistle and repeats their significant 
phrases, thus pointing backward to what has been written, 
as the introduction in so large measure points forward to 
all that is to follow. 

Paul ascribes praise to God who ‘‘is able to establish”’ 
the Roman Christians. In the opening of the epistle, ch. 
1: 11, he expresses a hope that they may be established 
by the imparting of some spiritual gift through his pro- 
posed ministry in Rome. Here he expresses the truth that 
nothing that man can do, not even the production of such 
an epistle as this, can in itself effect such a result. Only 
God can establish believers in their faith so that they 
cannot be moved. 

This establishment is to take place in agreement with 
the gospel which Paul preached, a gospel of grace, a gospel 
of free salvation for all men through faith in Jesus Christ. 
The very sum and substance of this gospel is ‘‘ the preach- 
ing of Jesus Christ,’’ who is ever presented as the object of 
faith, the source of hope and life. This preaching of Christ 
sets forth the gracious purpose of God for the redemption 
of the world. 


160 THE CONCLUSION Rom. 16: 25-27 


It is therefore in accordance with the revelation of that 
““mystery’’ which has been hidden in silence since the 
world began, but now has been disclosed. It is in perfect 
accord with the writings of the inspired prophets; and 
now by God’s commandment it is proclaimed ‘unto all 
the nations’’ to bring them into the obedience of faith. 
To him who in such a saving purpose and in all his works 
of providence and grace shows himself ‘‘the only wise 
God,”’ to him be “‘the glory for ever,” through Jesus Christ. 
Amen. 

















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